2020

Click the image for a link to audio.

In this collaborative project for the 100 Years|100 Women Archive, I was commissioned by Zalika Azim to engage in a series of conversations considering African American suffragists, and the ongoing fight for women’s equality, To complete the sound component, Azim and I selected a conversational approach, as it mirrored the back-and-forth process undertaken in the Amy Matilda Cassey and Martina and Mary Ann Dickerson Albums: Azim recorded herself talking stream of consciousness; I then listened to those recordings, made two graphic scores in response – essentially mapping our exchange, before interpreting the scores through piano, electronics, and archival sound. The final composition consists of two movements and serves as a reflection on our conversation and research. Further, they highlight the domestic space (past, present, future) as a globally acknowledged historic site capable of supporting the wide breadth of organizing, community building, and creativity amongst women of color.

While the overarching project brings attention to the women of color who fought for our right to vote during the suffrage movement, this work also aims to encourage women currently extending the mission for equality to consider the spaces they may create collaboratively, and in spite of our current global circumstances.

The project was commissioned by: Park Avenue Armory, National Black Theatre, The Apollo Theater, The Juilliard School, La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, The Laundromat Project, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of the Moving Image, National Sawdust, New York University (Department of Photography and Imaging, Tisch School of the Arts; Office of Global Inclusion, Diversity and Strategic Innovation, and Institute of African American Affairs & Center for Black Visual Culture) and Urban Bush Women.

Composed by: Liz Gre in collaboration with Zalika Azim