'Congo Square Rhythms' Exhibit Opens Saturday

Date: Saturday, Oct. 10

Time: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Location: The Jazz & Heritage Gallery, 1205 N. Rampart Street

Admission: Free

The Jazz & Heritage Gallery is pleased to announce "Congo Square Rhythms," an exhibit of paintings and mixed media works by Louisiana artists.

 

The exhibit, which will run from October 10 through November 20, features works by more than 25 local artists, each representing or inspired by the cultural legacy of Congo Square.

 

An opening celebration will be held Saturday, October 10, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., as part of the "Second Saturday" openings by galleries in the St. Claude Arts District.

 

The exhibit is timed to coincide with the third annual Congo Square Rhythms Festival, an outdoor celebration of African drumming and dance (and New Orleans music), that will be held on Sunday, November 15, in Louis Armstrong Park.

 

The festival will be preceded by a day-long symposium on the role of Congo Square as a crossroads between Africa and the Caribbean. The November 14 symposium will feature, among others, Ned Sublette, author of "The World That Made New Orleans," and Robert Farris Thompson of Yale University, one of the nation's foremost scholars on African culture. 

 

Artists featured in the "Congo Square Rhythms" exhibit include: Ulrick Jean-Pierre, Shakor, Haitham Eid, Nat Williams, Sheila Phipps, Cecelia Tapplette-Pedescleaux, Bruce Brice, Larry Daniel Nevil, Michelle Levine, Ronald Jones, E. E. Williams, Michelle Lavigne, Eric Waters, Charles Simms, Ashton Ramsey, Jim Belfon, Alton Osborne, Cherice Harrison-Nelson and Latanya Clark, and others.

 

The "Congo Square Rhythms" exhibit at the Jazz & Heritage Gallery will be on view from Oct. 10 through Nov. 20. Gallery hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Admission is free.