2015 WINTER

Programs

The baobab
CULTURAL
CENTER

At the baobab
FEBRUARY
6 FIRST FRIDAY Gallery Night - Magnificent Africa - OPEN
MIC & BOOK SIGNING: Aken Wariebi , author of Living
With Poetry. 6pm.

Rotating Gallery Exhibits & Events

Showcasing local, national and international artists. Doors are

open for Rochesters First Friday gallery night,, with Open Mic,
every first Friday, 6-9 pm.

Magnificent Africa*

Oct.-May. Our flagship exhibit.

Through a series of informative panels,
artifacts, and a fully interactive digtal display you can learn the story of
Africa and its people.

Film Screenings, Dialogue

and Guest Speakers

Films with culturally relevant themes, followed by discussion;

guest speakers and panels, book signings and other events.

Art and Musical

Programs

Educational programs
such as drum classes,
musical performances
workshops, and other
cultural experiences.

Weekly Programs:

Yoga: Tues. (advanced) and Weds. (beginners) at 5:45, guided by Jim Thompson;
African World History Class: Tuesday evenings at 7:30 with
instructor Mike Campbell; Drum Classes with Fana Bangoura:
Saturdays at 10:30 AM.

i-

13 Film & Dialogue: The Swahili Beat: An Introduction to

the History of the East African Coast. Upbeat look at the
remarkable history of the Swahili people of Kenya and
Tanzanias East African coast. Packed with the music
and dance of its indigenous peoples, the film takes
viewers along the coast from the fabled
20 Film & Dialogue: Play, Jankun, Play. Dilalogue
following film by Dawn ad Steven Flowers. Documentry
about the Garifuna, a Central American people of West
African and Native American descent, and the wanaragua ritual, masked Christmas processionals commonly
called Jankun, blending music, dance, and costume
and African, European, and Native American (Arawak
and Carib) art traditions.
27 Last Friday Jazz: Carl Atkins and Culture Clash
MARCH
6 Film & Dialogue: Bury the Hatchet. Dialogue following
film facilitated by Lisa Johnson.Portrait of three Mardi
Gras Indian Big Chiefs. Following New Orleans Black
Indians over the course of five years - before, during and
after Hurricane Katrina - filmmaker Aaron C. Walker explores their art and philosophies, as well as their struggles
within their communities.
13 Film & Dialogue: Voices of the Orishas. Dialogue following film facilitated by Clyde Morgan. Demonstrates
the survival and strength of the Yoruba cultural and
religious heritage in the contemporary life of Caribbean
African-Hispanics. Filmed in Havana among Afro- Cubans who practice Santeria (African spiritism), the video
documents an important Guemilere, a ritual ceremony
that features dancing, singing, praying, and drum beating, and in which the pantheon of 22 deities, or Orishas,
of the Yoruba religion are invoked.

2015 Winter Programs At the baobab

The baobab
CULTURAL
CENTER

The Baobab Cultural Center | 728 University Ave. | Rochester, NY

14607 | 585.563.2145 | www.thebaobab.org

Barakoa:
the african
Masquerade
Masks may be the most
commonly recognized form
of African art. The mask
making art for the purpose of
masquerades survived the
journeys across the Atlantic to
the new world, and survives
to this day in Africa and in the
African diaspora.
Through workshops with
master mask makers, costume
creation, and a culminating
masquerade ball, the
Baobab and its partners are
bringing the art of the African
masquerade to life.
TEAMS ARE FORMING NOW FOR
THE CREATION OF MASKS AND
COSTUMES FOR THE AFRICAN
MASQUERADE, TO BE HELD
APRIL 26, 2015.

Barakoa is funded by a
Max and Marian Farash
Charitable Foundation
CREATIVE COLLISION grant.

PROJECT
PARTNERS:
ARTISTS:
Shawn
Dunwoody,
Lead Project Artist
Raul Siro
Ferreira,
Lead Costume
Coodinator
Costume
Coodinators Lynne
Feldman and Hector
Arguizoni
ORGANIZATIONS:
Latinos De Corazon
Kuumba
Consultants
Rochester West Indian
Festival Organization
Rochester-Monroe
County Freedom Trail
Commission/Akwabaa: The Heritage
Associates
Grupo Cultural Latino
En Rochester
Image City
Photography Gallery
Mounafanyi
Rochester Institute
of Technology

20 SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER & FILM PRESENTATION: We

Wont Bow Down. Guest speaker/facilitator, We Wont
Bow Down filmmaker Christopher Bower. We Wont Bow
Down explores a secret society of African Americans
in inner city new Orleans as they devote their time and
skills to create hand-beaded Indian costumes that
embody a cultural, spiritual and ancient power that has
kept Africa alive in the new world despite slavery and its
legacy.
27 Last Friday Jazz: LIVE JAZZ with Carl Atkins and Culture Clash
APRIL
3 FIRST FRIDAY Gallery Night - Magnificent Africa - OPEN
MIC. 6 to 9 pm.
10 Film & Dialogue: Sanpachando: St Pacho is for the
Revelers. Explores the intertwined cultural, religious,
political, and afro-ethnic meanings of a vibrant festival
honoring St. Francis of Assisi in Quibdo, Choco, on the
northwest Pacific coast of Colombia.
26 AFRICAN MASQUERADE BALL at R.I.T.s Performing Arts
Center. 3 pm.

Sign up for our email list. Email your request

to baobab.center@yahoo.com

*The Magnificent Africa Exhibit and programs are

sponsored by the Max and Marian Farash Charitable
Foundation, The New York State Council on the Arts
Regional Economic Development Program, and the
William G. McGowan Charitable Fund.

Baobab programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with
the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.