Illuminating the Legacy of Slavery in RI Projection and Performative Reading Series

On July 4, 2020 TWPEF implemented a guerilla-girl approach to public art at Linden Place in Bristol. They projected images and graphics accompanied by live narration, to bring attention to the fact that Linden Place is not just a beautiful building in a charming town, but a symbol of wealth built upon human brutality. Staging the event on July 4th was a way to challenge our assumptions about what freedom and liberty mean in a country that was mired in the slave trade for centuries.

TWPEF sees this current performance series as an expansion of the Bristol project, with a more ambitious series of projections, performances and partnerships (see details below for each town’s events and collaborators).

We have brought together artists and scholars to create narratives based on research, while performers are working with creative writers to bring original reads to each site specific location.

While being a live event, it will also be live streamed on Facebook in an effort to continue to allow people affected by COVID issues/concerns a safe and accessible relationship to a unique perspective into histories in Providence and at lesser known sites in Woonsocket and Cranston.

These projections and performances will teach forgotten histories, evoke the deep human emotion that this history holds to this day, and motivate attendees to work towards an anti-racist future.

It is only through understanding our past that we can fight for a better future.

This project is supported by both the Humanities Council and RISCA.