The third event in the Standing/Still series was a special celebration on two fronts. First, the program was held on Juneteenth, the day commemorating the end of legalized black chattel slavery in the U.S. Secondly, the evening’s performance honored Millicent E. Brown, who was one of the first black students to integrate South Carolina’s all-white schools.
Dance Matters, a Charleston-based contemporary dance company, performed an exquisite series of selections from “Coming to Monuments,” which uses social dance, theater, and storytelling to unpack the history of Confederate monuments. The score includes text and music by Charleston poet laureate Marcus Amaker.
Later, the architects behind Charleston Reconstructed offered a beta tour of their new app, which allows users to reconfigure public spaces, with a particular emphasis on the Confederate monuments in Marion Square. The app employs “narrative film techniques and augmented reality to flip the power structures of the past, hoping to expose users to a range of perspectives about the value of monuments as they currently stand.”
Following the performance, the attendees walked to the Emanuel 9 Commemoration Committee’s “Prayers for America” candlelight vigil in the green space of the Gaillard Center.
Huge thanks to Bryan Granger and Mark Sloan of the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art, who allowed us to host the event in the Hill Gallery, located in close proximity to the night’s vigil. Thanks also to Redux Contemporary Art Center, our partner in the Standing/Still series.
Photos and video of the event and the vigil that followed are below:
