Traveling Guggenheim Project Brings NYC Communities Together

Guggenheim Social Practice initiative brings six New York City communities together for cultural exchange.

What do a pet store, a museum, a church, a TV network, an academic research institute, and a high school have in common? They are all part of a project commissioned through the Guggenheim Social Practice initiative by artists Lenka Clayton and Jon Rubin, which the public can experience over the next six months. It’s appropriately titled, A talking parrot, a high school drama class, a Punjabi TV show, the oldest song in the world, a museum artwork, and a congregation’s call to action circle through New York. The traveling project aims to bring together city communities that are often separated by cultural, geographic, economic, or circumstantial boundaries, and engage “each partner site in a process of learning about and caring for the others’ value systems, public functions, and social characters,” according to a Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum press release.

To determine what communities would take part in the project, Clayton and Rubin drew an imaginary 5-mile wide circle through the South Bronx, Harlem, the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and Queens, and invited six public venues along the circle’s path to participate in the social and material exchange. The artists worked with the selected venues to choose aspects of their identities that will rotate among the six locations over six months.

The six aspects, which are referenced in the project’s full title, include:

Pinkie, a talking parrot from Pet Resources in Melrose, Bronx, who will be cared for and taught new words at each venue
A high school drama class from Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, which will devise site-specific performances
Punjabi TV shows from Jus Broadcasting in Astoria, Queens, which will be recorded at each venue
The oldest song in the world—a 3,400-year-old Hurrian hymn—from the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World on the Upper East Side, Manhattan which will be reinterpreted and performed at each venue
Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ “Untitled” (Public Opinion) from the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum on the Upper East Side, Manhattan, an interactive instillation (individually wrapped black licorice is involved), which will be exhibited at each venue
A congregation’s call to action against social injustice from St. Phillip’s Church in Harlem, Manhattan, which will be read at each venue, and the venue can respond in a way that benefits the community (Pet Resources will inform community members about their rights if stopped or arrested by police)

Each month, the six elements will move one stop around the circle, resulting in unique collaborations that will “subtly expand the partners’ everyday routines,” according to the press release. In the final month of the project, the artifacts will return to their respective homes for an exhibition of each venue’s interpretation of said artifact.

For example, the Hurrian hymn will begin at the Guggenheim in March where it will be hummed by museum staff in the galleries. In April, it will travel to St. Philips Church where it will be sung by a choir during services and drummed by a community-based arts and spirituality group. In May, a staff bird trainer at Pet Resources, who is also a DJ, will remix the song. In June the Frank Sinatra School’s band will play the hymn, and in July it will be incorporated into the on-air soundtracks of Jus Broadcasting’s programs. Finally, in August the hymn will return to ISAW for an exhibit that includes ancient artifacts and a vinyl recording of each reinterpretation of the song.

The project will run through Aug. 31, and the public can participate in daily programs and special events at each venue—stop by Frank Sinatra School of the Arts to draw your own picture of Pinkie or see a display of student artworks of the parrot from March 10-31. For more information, a schedule of daily programs and special events, and to see where each aspect is currently located, visit circlethroughnewyork.com.

Main image: The six partner sites lie on the path of this circle drawn through Harlem, the South Bronx, Queens, and Manhattan’s Upper East Side.
Design by Brett Yasko