First Thursdays: Folk My Life Performance on October 6
See special performances by NYFA affiliated artists on October 6!
Join us at DUMBO’s monthly First Thursday Gallery Walk on October 6 to view the NYFA exhibition, Folk My Life, and for two special performances from Folk/Traditional Arts artists, Annie Ferdous ‘15, and Benjamin Rosen, Finalist ’15.
Folk My Life Performance for DUMBO First Thursday Gallery Walk
Date: Thursday, October 6, 2016, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Performances: Annie Ferdous and Bangladeshi Dance, 7:00 PM – 7:15 PM; Los Hijos de la Gran Puna, 7:30 PM – 7:50 PM
Location: NYFA Gallery, 20 Jay Street, Suite 740, Brooklyn NY 11201
This event is free and open to the general public.
The gallery will be open from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM. For a full list of participating galleries in the DUMBO First Thursday Gallery Walk, please visit the event website.
Kicking off the lively evening, Annie Ferdous will present two choreographed traditional Bangladeshi dances alongside her students in the gallery space promptly at 7:00 PM. Afterwards, starting at 7:30 PM, Finalist Benjamin Rosen and band, Los Hijos de la Gran Puna, will fill the gallery space with traditional Andean music.
Performing Artist Bios:
Annie Ferdous is the Founder of Bangladesh Institute of Performing Arts Inc., a non-profit, co-founded in 1993. She is a Bangladeshi immigrant, a choreographer, dance teacher, and performer who teaches dance in 3 different locations in Brooklyn and Queens. Ferdous is a 2-time Brooklyn Arts Council Awardee, a 2015 NYFA Fellowship recipient in the Folk Arts category, an Employee of New York City’s Board of Education, and a member of the Brooklyn Community Board. She currently resides in Kensington, Brooklyn.
Benjamín “Benji” Rosen is a multimedia artist who explores different mediums in order to uncover life’s feelings and emotions. He does this by fusing the forms and beauty of ancient cultures with those of contemporary times, connecting the past with the present. As a musician he plays with Andean bands in New York and has performed at the Museum of Natural History, Make Music NY, El Museo del Barrio, Rutgers University, Queens Museum, Smithsonian Folklife Festival, etc. As a visual artist he composes with paintings, photography, or a combination of both. He has exhibited in New York, Puerto Rico, and Perú. Ben studied at the School of Visual Arts New York, The School of Visual Arts in Puerto Rico, Rochester Institute of Technology, and Metropolitan College of New York. Ben was born in Puerto Rico.
Exhibiting artists include:
Carrie Hill, Mary Tooley Parker, Zhong-Hua Lu, Hongyi He, Kesler Pierre, Bonnie Gale, Wang Guowei, Camille Yeung, and Vít Hořejš.
NYFA’s Artists’ Fellowship Program awards $7,000 cash grants to artists living in New York State. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the program, and NYFA is celebrating with events and online content. Be sure to follow NYFA on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates.
Images, from top: Annie Ferdous (Folk/Traditional Arts ‘15), choreographed Bangladeshi dances, images courtesy of the artist; Ben Rosen (Finalist ‘15), image courtesy of the artist
