“When the Bronx was burning, Casa Amadeo was holding it down…”
Photo Documentation by Jo Q Nelson, Chad Stayrook and Hatuey Ramos-Fermín
This art project was part of Shifting Communities exhibition series at the Bronx River Art Center (BRAC) curated by Chad Stayrook. It is a participatory exhibition in collaboration with members of artists’ collective Action Club: Chris Domenick, Kerry Downey, Jo Q. Nelson, Douglas Paulson, with Bronx based artists Hatuey Ramos-Fermín and Elizabeth Hamby, and it is inspired by the record shop Casa Amadeo.
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Artists statement:
Casa Amadeo record shop is a cultural treasure trove preserving the history and vitality of Latin music in the South Bronx. By choosing it as a launch pad, we are able to explore ideas of community, collaboration, and culture. In response to challenges we each have in our individual artwork and our shared concerns about the responsibilities of socially engaged art, we gave each other assignments that respond to Casa Amadeo’s rich social, visual, and acoustic space.
Installation Statement
The objects in the room were found in South Bronx. They deal with our experiences here and point to a place we’re interested in: a record store named Casa Amadeo. Casa Amadeo means a lot of different things to a lot of different people and it has a unique and rich history that is well-documented in articles, websites, and movies. We hope that you enjoy this space—change the music, pick up a book, shake a tailfeather or make a mixtape. Come back and join us for the events!
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DEATH TO FALSE BOOGALOO
mixtape
Designed by Douglas Paulson
Track 1: Body and Flesh without any sense ME by Douglas Paulson
Track 2: Join us by Kerry Downey
Track 3: honey on the lips in another body in another skin YOU by Douglas Paulson
Mix Tracks: Aht Ways by Hatuey Ramos-Fermín
Roundtable panel discussions:
The first Bronx Music Heritage Center (BMHC) Latin Music roundtable, “El Elemento del Bronx, a Latin Jazz Tale”, was moderated by Bill Aguado of the Bronx Music Heritage Center with guests: Elena Martinez, folklorist; Bobby Sanabria, multi-nominated Grammy bandleader, drummer, and educator; Michael Max Knobbe, Executive Director of Bronx Net; Angel R. Rodriguez Sr., musician, arranger and Bronx Living Legends producer; and Al Quiñones, producer of 52 Park Music Series. Roundtable guests have distinguished themselves as Latin Jazz music leaders and historians, representing the Bronx through their creativity and commitment.
Participants discussed the role of demographic shifts in the Bronx in the shaping of the musical landscape of today, the evolution of Latin Music over the last 30 years, and the role of women musicians in the Latin music field.
The second Bronx Music Heritage Center (BMHC) roundtable was moderated by Bill Aguado of the Bronx Music Heritage Center with guests: Patty Dukes and Reph Starr of Circa 95, Steven Sapp and Mildred Ruiz Sapp of UniVerses, Fred Ones, Jane Gabriels of Pepatian, and Rockafella of Full Circle Dance. Each of the roundtable participants has included within their body of work a sense of cultural and social justice.
Hip hop has become the chronicler of our times, providing historical context of issues, concerns, social attitudes, and negative stereotypes Panelists will be asked to reflect on hip hop as they remember it and talk about what hip hop is today. They also were asked about how the changing demographics influenced hip hop as a genre. The BMHC is committed to preserving the legacy of hip hop and other music genres in the Bronx for current and future generations. This conversation was documented in audio and video and was added to the growing archive of the Bronx Music Heritage Center for sharing with the broader community.
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Documentary Film Screenings:
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Dances in the gallery
Christmas dance party
Partner dancing
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PROCESS:
We first came up with a list of criteria for the project:
1-There should be transparency between us in both the process and dialogue.
2-To make and maintain genuine relationships between each other and our audience.
3-To find a cultural site in the South Bronx we can use as the roots of the project.
4-To make things as well as make things happen, to have a gallery installation as well as a number
of events.
5-The show should feel open and welcoming to viewers, not alienating or exclusive.
“Action Club asked me to recommend a place that has a cultural-social significance in the Bronx to respond to. I thought of Casa Amadeo because it has varied meanings for different people and communities. It relates to the development of latino and Puerto Rican music not only in the Bronx, but also the broader New York City community, and at the same time it also refers to an internationally community. It is also a place of gatherings, meetings and exchanges. In addition, a record store is a rare thing to find these and being one of the (if not the) oldest record shop in New York City, this was a perfect place to touch upon different layers and points of departure for everyone and engage with a place within the South Bronx.”
—-Hatuey
Based on group and individual discussions, dozens of emails, dinners, and observations, we drew names from a hat and gave each other an assignment:
Doug to Elizabeth -
Make a gesture, a gesture that terrifies you. you’ll know you’re doing it right when you feel like you’re not doing enough.
Elizabeth to Jo -
Use the following quote as inspiration to organize the design of the space, “how could i have fallen in love with my wife if we had to listen to that music?”
Jo to Chris -
Arrange “still lifes” of objects that relate to Casa Amadeo. Think about the difference relationship of planned and improvised.
Chris to Hatuey –
Use you own interests as the point of departure rather than thinking of the “collective” interest of the project. In particular, use your early dreams in DJ-ing
Hatuey to Kerry -
Collaborate with Jo for the installation of the gallery space. Create an art piece that addresses the present of Casa Amadeo that is not a video nor a performance but that has sound.
Kerry to Doug -
Make a gesture, a gesture that terrifies you. It has to use your body.
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LISTENING STATION
This exhibition also featured Los Angeles based artist, Jules Rochielle, and her Social Practices Art Network (SPAN). SPAN is a site created to be an online resource and archive for individuals, organizations, community groups and institutions that are interested in new genre arts forms and practices. As an extension of this online archive, Jules will install and moderate “Listening Station a DigitalCommunity Archive.” She will offer a series of site-specific “Listening Sessions” allowing her to tune the archive into the rich cultural community/history of the Bronx by creating of a set of interviews with socially engaged Bronx artists. These Bronx “Listening Sessions” will allow the audience to look deeply in on the history and creative happenings of the South Bronx, a neighborhood that has a deep roots and history in collective artistic practice and socially engaged artwork.
