{"id":19396,"date":"2024-02-13T17:58:31","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T23:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/?p=19396"},"modified":"2024-02-14T10:50:50","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T16:50:50","slug":"conference-examines-afrofuturism-through-art-music-film-and-costume-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2024\/02\/13\/conference-examines-afrofuturism-through-art-music-film-and-costume-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Conference Examines Afrofuturism Through Art, Music, Film And Costume Design"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
A two-day conference titled \u201cAfrofuturism Explored!\u201d will examine the current state of Afrofuturism in honor of Black History Month on Feb. 16-17 at the Liberal Arts and Arts and Humanities Building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The free event includes panel discussions, art installations, an improvisational performance and film screenings. It is open to faculty, students and the community, presented by the Texas A&M School of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts<\/a>, the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute<\/a>, Visual Materials and Performance Cultures section, Black Student Alliance Council<\/a> and Media Gaming Lab.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Will Connor<\/a>, Performance Studies<\/a> lecturer and conference organizer, said Afrofuturism, a term first coined by Mark Dery<\/a>, combines Black culture and science fiction, with a technology-based view of the future through the arts, Connor said. The concepts are heavily portrayed in Marvel\u2019s \u201cBlack Panther<\/a>\u201d comic books and film series through costumes, design, music and creative choices, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis conference is going to cover what the current state of Afrofuturism is, and what\u2019s changed and what hasn\u2019t changed,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd what messages are still being reported and how are they being put forth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Afrofuturism first intrigued Connor while attending the Atlanta Jazz Festival in 1990. It was there that he met the innovative musician Sun Ra<\/a>, who Connor describes as one of the main proponents of Afrofuturism, with his experimental jazz based on Afrofuturist concepts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Connor said he had been a fan of Sun Ra, who died in 1993, since he was a child, and attended as many of his concerts as possible. The musician may have recognized his frequent presence, Connor recalls, as a jazz festival security guard brought him backstage for a conversation at Sun Ra\u2019s request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe security guard took me backstage, and I sat in Sun Ra\u2019s tent and talked to him for hours about his music,\u201d Connor said. \u201cHe kept saying, \u2018You should go back to school and study ethnomusicology.\u2019 So I did, and here I am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n