Join Carrie Mae Weems, Deborah Archer, Fred Moten, Agnes Gund, Ben Jealous, Radcliffe Bailey, Eisa Davis, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Lisa Cortés, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, and more…

Accompanying Carrie Mae Weems’ monumental exhibition, The Shape of Things, Land of Broken Dreams is a large-scale, multidisciplinary convening and concert series that will activate the Armory with a wide range of conversations, presentations, and performances featuring artists, poets, singers, dancers, thinkers, and scholars sharing work and exploring some of the most urgent issues facing society today.

Thursday, December 9, 2021
Concert: Somi: 7:30pm & 9:30pm

Known for her wide-ranging vocal technique and her original blend of modern jazz with African music styles, Grammy-nominated singer Somi uses her songwriting to give voice to issues of social justice, transnationalism, womanhood, and global constructions of Blackness. As the opening concert of the Convening, Somi will appear in a stripped down setting (voice, piano, drum) to offer an evening of song that invites a deeper reflection on cultural intimacy and the body politic. Joining the vocalist will be Toru Dodo (piano) and Otis Brown III (drums).

Friday, December 10, 2021
Daytime Convening: 12:00pm–7:00pm

View the Schedule

Concert: Vijay Iyer & Arooj Aftab: 8:30pm & 9:30pm

Friday’s convening concludes with two performances by composer/pianist Vijay Iyer, with vocalist and composer Arooj Aftab, bassist and composer Linda May Han Oh, and trumpeter Adam O’Farrill. Grammy-nominated artist Iyer, known for his eclectic and varied collaborations, will take the stage with his ensemble to celebrate the day’s end.

Saturday, December 11, 2021
Daytime Convening: 12:00pm–7:00pm

View the Schedule

Concert: Terri Lyne Carrington & Lisa Fischer: 8:30pm & 9:30pm

NEA Jazz Master and three-time Grammy Award-winning drummer, producer, and composer, Terri Lyne Carrington and Grammy Award-winning vocalist Lisa Fischer lead an all-star ensemble in a concert of improvised compositions, prompted by audience responses to and reflections on their experiences with The Shape of Things and the Land of Broken Dreams convening. The ensemble features Brandee Younger, harp; Nicole Mitchell, flutes; Morgan Guerin, multi-instrumentalist; and Kassa Overall, electronics and MC.

Land of Broken Dreams Participants
Subject to Change

Kenyon Adams, interdisciplinary artist and creative director
Arooj Aftab, vocalist, music composer, and producer
Laura Anderson Barbata, transdisciplinary artist
Deborah Archer, President, ACLU
Salome Asega, artist and researcher
Radcliffe Bailey, painter, sculptor, and mixed media artist
Kyle Bass, playwright
Naomi Beckwith, Deputy Director and Jennifer and David Stockman Chief Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation
Kyle Bell, filmmaker, Rolex Protégé 2020-21 (mentor: Spike Lee)
Jessica Bell Brown, Associate Curator of Contemporary Art, The Baltimore Museum of Art
Sara’o Bery, strategist and curator
Reginald Dwayne Betts, MacArthur Fellow, Founder and Director of Freedom Reads
Dawoud Bey, photographer and educator
Brooklyn United Music & Arts Program, community-based marching band that serves New York City youth
LeRonn Brooks, Associate Curator for Modern and Contemporary Collections, Getty Research Institute
Otis Brown III, drummer and composer
Dario Calmese, artist, urbanist, director, and brand consultant
María Magdalena Campos-Pons, multidisciplinary artist
Terri Lyne Carrington, NEA Jazz Master and three-time Grammy Award-winning drummer, producer, and composer
Majora Carter, real estate developer, urban revitalization strategy consultant, MacArthur Fellow, Peabody Award winning broadcaster
Maurice Chestnut, tap dancer
Farai Chideya, journalist, author, and creator/host of the radio show/podcast/insights brand Our Body Politic
Elizabeth Colomba, contemporary artist
Lisa Cortés, Academy Award-nominated and Emmy-winning producer and director
Eisa Davis, Pulitzer Prize finalist, Obie-winning actor, writer, and singer-songwriter
Helga Davis, multidisciplinary artist
Ryan N. Dennis, Chief Curator and Artistic Director of the Center for Art & Public Exchange (CAPE) at the Mississippi Museum of Art
Toru Dodo, jazz pianist
Iris Dressler and Hans D. Christ, Co-Directors of Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart
Elvira Dyangani Ose, Director of MACBA Contemporary Art Museum, Barcelona
Torkwase Dyson, painter
Chris Eddleton, drums
Stro Elliot, beat pad
Theo Eshetu, video artist
Kayla Farrish, dancer, choreographer, director, and photographer
Lisa Fischer, singer-songwriter
Ja’Tovia Gary, filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist
Theaster Gates, multidisciplinary artist
vanessa german, self-taught citizen artist
Erin Jenoa Gilbert, curator and art advisor
Lonnie Graham, artist, photographer, and cultural activist
Reggie “Regg Roc” Gray And The D.R.E.A.M. Ring, flexn dance pioneer and Armory Artist-in-Residence
Dick Griffin, trombone
Morgan Guerin, multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, and engineer
Agnes Gund, philanthropist
Catherine Gund, Emmy-nominated producer, director, writer, and activist
Carl Hancock Rux, Associate Artistic Director/Curator-in-Residence, Harlem Stage, poet, playwright, novelist, performer
Francesca Harper, Artistic Director, Ailey II Company, dancer, choreographer, and founder of The Francesca Harper Project
Craig Harris, trombonist, composer
Nona Hendryx, singer, record producer, songwriter, musician, author, and actress
Tcheser Holmes, drums
Cathy Park Hong, author, poet
Sky Hopinka, filmmaker
Jennifer Hsu, artist
Vijay Iyer, Grammy-nominated composer-pianist
Ashley James, Associate Curator, Contemporary Art, Guggenheim Museum
Ben Jealous, civil rights leader
Tyehimba Jess, author and poet
Rashid Johnson, interdisciplinary artist
Joan Jonas, visual artist and pioneer of performance and video art
Christine Jones, Tony Award-winning set designer and Armory Artist-in-Residence
Mariam Kamara, architect, founder and principal of atelier masomi, Niamey Niger
Deborah Kass, artist
Ballman Khapalova, architect team of Peter Ballman and Dasha Khaplova
Tina Kukielski, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Art21
Tamika Lawrence, performer
Khary Lazarre-White, writer, educator, activist, and civil rights lawyer
Spike Lee, film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, professor, and Rolex Mentor 2020-21 (Protégé: Kyle Bell)
Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, Associate Professor, Harvard University and the founder of Vision and Justice Project
James Brandon Lewis, saxophonist, composer, recording artist and educator
Khari Lucas, bass, vocals, electronics
Julie Mehretu, painter
Nicole Mitchell, jazz flautist and composer
aja monet, surrealist blues poet, storyteller, and organizer
Fred Moten, cultural theorist, poet, and scholar, Professor in the Departments of Performance Studies and Comparative Literature, NYU Tisch
Shirin Neshat, visual artist
Jennifer Harrison Newman, Associate Artistic Director, Schwartzman Center; Yale University, producer, educator, choreographer, and performance artist
Hans Ulrich Obrist, curator, critic and historian of art, Artistic Director, Serpentine Galleries, London
Adam O’Farrill, trumpet
Diana Oh, multidisciplinary artist
Linda May Han Oh, bassist, composer
Karyn Olivier, visual artist
Tony Oursler, multimedia and installation artist
Kassa Overall, musician, emcee, singer, producer, and drummer
The Peace Poets, collective of Spoken Word poetry, rap, and Movement Music artists
Maya Phillips, author, poet, and New York Times critic
Claudia Rankine, poet, essayist, playwright, and editor
Cheryl R. Riley, artist
Jess Row, author
Agustina San Martín, director, screenwriter, cinematographer, Rolex Protégé 2020-21 (mentor: Lin-Manuel Miranda)
Antwaun Sargent, art critic and writer
Sayler/Morris, artist duo
Jeffrey Henson Scales, photographer, NYU Tisch instructor, and New York Times editor
Alex Schweder, artist of performance architecture
Tanya Selvaratnam, artist, writer, and producer
Sara Serpa, singer, composer, and improviser and Armory Artist-in-Residence
Gregory Sholette, artist, writer, and activist
Alyson Shotz, sculptor
Shahzia Sikander, neo-miniature painter
Geneva Skeen, artist, composer
Cauleen Smith, interdisciplinary artist
Linton Smith, trumpet
Shinique Smith, multidisciplinary artist
Somi, vocalist, composer, playwright, and actor
Jawwaad Taylor, trumpeter, composer, producer, educator, and social activist
Shanta Thake, Ehrenkranz Chief Artistic Officer, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Hank Willis Thomas, conceptual artist
Anthony Tidd, bass
Camila Rodríguez Triana, filmmaker and visual artist, Rolex Protégé 2020-21 (mentor: Carrie Mae Weems)
Carmelita Tropicana, performance artist and Armory Artist-in-Residence
Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, rapper, actor, and lead MC of the Roots
Quincy Troupe, award-winning author
Nasheet Waits,musician and educator
Kaoru Watanabe, composer, musician, Japanese flute and percussion
Carrie Mae Weems, MacArthur Fellow, visual artist
Whitney White, director, musician/composer and actor, Rolex Protégé 2020-21 (mentor: Phyllida Lloyd)
Brandon Tyler Willis, singer-songwriter, composer, and teacher
Deborah Willis, artist, author, curator, University Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging, NYU Tisch
Avery Willis Hoffman, writer, director, producer, and curator of public programs, Artistic Director, Brown Arts Institute, Brown University
Danielle Wood, Assistant Professor in Media Arts & Sciences and in Aeronautics & Astronautics at MIT
Simon Wu, writer and curator
Monica Youn, author
Brandee Younger, harpist
Firas Zreik, Kanun virtuoso, composer, arranger, and educator

#TheShapeofThings
#LandOfBrokenDreams

Return to The Shape of Things Program Page

December 9–11, 2021

Thursday, December 9
7:30pm & 9:30pm
Concert: Somi
Tickets: $25 (plus fees)
Tickets include complimentary admission to one daytime convening session on Friday, December 10 or Saturday, December 11.

Friday, December 10
12:00pm–7:00pm
Daytime Convening
Tickets: $25 (plus fees)

8:30pm & 9:30pm
Concert: Vijay Iyer & Arooj Aftab
Tickets: $25 (plus fees)

Saturday, December 11
12:00pm–7:00pm
Daytime Convening
Tickets: $25 (plus fees)

8:30pm & 9:30pm
Concert: Terri Lyne Carrington and Lisa Fischer, with Morgan Guerin, Nicole Mitchell, Kassa Overall, Brandee Younger
Tickets: $25 (plus fees)

Land of Broken Dreams tickets include admission to The Shape of Things installation.

Join the Waitlist
If you would like to join a waitlist for the Daytime Convening, please email waitlist@armoryonpark.org with your preferred day (Friday or Saturday), number of tickets (1 or 2 tickets), and phone number.

Health and Safety Protocols
All ticket-holders must be fully vaccinated. “Fully vaccinated” means that you received your final dose of an FDA or WHO-approved vaccine at least 14 days before your performance date. At check-in, ticket holders will be required to show proof of full vaccination (the New York State Excelsior Pass or a hard copy or photo of your vaccination card) and a government-issued photo ID.

All patrons and staff are required to wear masks while inside the Armory.

To view additional COVID-19 Policies, please visit our FAQs page.

Other Ways to Buy
Tickets can be purchased by phone by calling the Box Office at (212) 933-5812 (M–F, 10:00am–6:00pm).

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