NO↔SPACE
GOODBYE WILLIAMSBURG
RENTRIFICATION PARTY
Saturday, September 17
84 Havemeyer St at Metropolitan Ave
http://notanalternative.com
$10 suggested donation (no one turned away for lack of funds)
All proceeds go to the move and build-out of our new space.
Cash bar with local beer and wine served.
Dear friends,
Please join us for our last event ever at No-Space (formerly called The Change You Want To See Gallery) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. After 7 years and hundreds of artist talks, film screenings, workshops, festivals, block parties, panel discussions and projects, a 240% rent increase sends us packing for new pastures. But first, we play.
We'll kick off the evening screening films shot in Williamsburg over the last 30 years, depicting a changing landscape, both physically and culturally. After that, a benediction by Reverend Billy of the Church of Earthaluliah, and then a dance party with DJ Angel Nevarez, DJ N-Ron, and the Hungry March Band.
This isn't goodbye, this is goodbye Williamsburg. Stay tuned for an inaugural party in the NEW No-Space sometime in October!
Film Screenings: 6pm - 9:30pm
6pm: Metropolitan Ave (1985, 52 mins)
7pm: Made in Brooklyn (1993, 55 mins)
8pm: Up on the Roof (2008, 58 mins)
9pm: Scenes from a Movement: The Fight to Halt Williamsburg's Over-Development (2011, 9 mins)
An Academic Discussion of Gentrification (2011, 6 mins)
Queen of Williamsburg (2009, 10 mins)
Benediction: 9:30
Reverend Billy of the Church of Earthaluliah
Dance Party: 9:45pm - 2am
DJ Angel Nevarez, Hungry March Band, and DJ N-Ron
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ABOUT THE FILMS
Metropolitan Ave (1985, 52 mins)
Metropolitan Avenue is an inspiring film about community, about the changing role of women, and about how powerful ordinary people can be when they join together to fight for something they believe in. The film focuses on a lively Brooklyn neighborhood which, like many urban areas, faces problems caused by racial tensions and cutbacks in municipal services. But in this case, a group of "traditional" homemakers from varied ethnic backgrounds rises to the challenge and forms coalitions to fight for the community's survival. Directed by Christine Noschese.
Made in Brooklyn (1993, 55 mins)
Made in Brooklyn examines the decline of New York's industrial base as economic policy makers shift their focus to a service-based economy. Focuses on the history and current vitality of Brooklyn's manufacturing community, and its implications for New York and the entire country. Interweaving historic photographs and archival footage, it traces Brooklyn's history as an industrial supplier and home to such business giants as Domino Sugar Refinery and the Eberhart Faber Pencil Factory. Directed by Isabel Hill.
Up on the Roof (2008, 58 mins)
The pigeon keepers of New York have been in the spotlight recently, and now a new JL Aronson documentary, Up on the Roof, looks at the gentrification of Williamsburg through their experiences. Up on the Roof follows several devoted pigeon breeders in one predominantly Latino section of Brooklyn through the rigors and rewards of a quintessential New York tradition. All along the waterfront, and throughout blue collar Brooklyn, pigeon fancying has been an active pastime for centuries, handed down from one group of residents to the next, and Williamsburg has long been the center of the action. But as with so many once blighted and now hip districts throughout the world, Brooklyn and Williamsburg in particular is being scrubbed of its old world character to make way for a new urbanism. This colorful, urban-wildlife doc considers what we lose in the process of urban renewal and treats the audience like an insider in an unseen and in many ways vanishing world. Directed by JL Aronson.
Scenes from a Movement: The Fight to Halt Williamsburg's Over-Development (2011, 9 mins)
Footage from the 2005 Williamsburg/Greenpoint rezoning protests' creative actions. Features Not An Alternative, the Williamsburg Warriors, Reverend Billy, the Hungry March Band and neighbors and friends. Directed by JL Aronson.
An Academic Discussion of Gentrification (2011, 6 mins)
Interview with Dr. Winifred Curran, an urban geographer with interests in gentrification and urban change, labor geographies, race and gender. Her dissertation work looked at the effect of gentrification on small scale manufacturers in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Includes archival footage and excerpts from Jonas Mekas' film "Williamsburg, Brooklyn", and Diego Echevarria's film "Los Sures". Directed by JL Aronson.
Queen of Williamsburg (2009, 10 mins)
Leonora Russo is a widower who has been living in the same rent controlled Williamsburg apartment for the past 60 years. This short documentary follows her on an average day, as she walks down Bedford Avenue, past the funky boutiques and expensive cafes. Leonora is known as "The Queen of Williamsburg" (though some call her "The Mayor") and is widely acclaimed for both her unique style and for her advocacy work for the People’s Firehouse. Directed by Klara Egei.
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ABOUT THE MUSIC
Angel Nevarez is an artist, musician, and DJ. He, and his longtime collaborator Valerie Tevere, have produced works which investigate contemporary music, dissent, and public fora, and move between the spatial simultaneity of performance and enunciation, reflecting upon the projection of political agency through transmission and song. He is also a faculty member at MIT in the program of Art, Culture, and Technology.
http://www.nevareztevere.info
Daniel Perlin , aka DJ N-RON, is an artist and producer based in Brooklyn, NY. His work includes production for David Byrne's label Luaka Bop records, mixes for Sound-Ink Records, and as a recording artist for Tax records, Broklyn Beats, Apple Core and Giant Corporate Records. Recent releases include collaborations with Dj/Rupture, Dj Small Change, Geko Jones, Anti-pop consortium and Vito Acconci. N-RON's The Collaborator was voted a best mixtape of 2007 by Kid Kameleon in XLR8R magazine. His sound has been heard at the The New Museum, Guggenheim Museum NY, Centre Georges Pomediou, Temporary Contemporary Gallery, London, TN Probe, Tokyo and at festivals such as Pireneos Sur, Spain, Berlin Film festival, Cannes and CMJ.
http://soundcloud.com/djnron
The Hungry March Band
Straight outta Brooklyn, HMB is a community group with a membership as diverse as our music. The band is an ever evolving musical experiment influenced and inspired from Brooklyn’s backyard with Latin flavor, punk rock noise, hip hop beats and the music of the streets. Put on your dancing shoes and break out the fancy threads because we’ve got the party going on – a blazing parade of flesh, blood, steel, brass and wood. We are the music of the people!
HMB has a repertoire of originals and traditionals that borrows from global brass band traditions, including, but not limited to, Balkan gypsy brass bands, Indian wedding bands, and New Orleans second line. The band also references punk rock; techno, hip hop; various jazz traditions, including free jazz and bop; reggae; and chance music. They cite Sun Ra, Charlie Parker, John Cage, the Shyam Brass Band, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Rebirth Brass Band, the Skatalites, Sonic Youth, Weird Al Yankovich and Black Sabbath as influences.
http://www.hungrymarchband.com
