Hand Book: A Manual on Performance, Process, and the Labor of Laundry A book launch for Hand Book: A Manual on Performance, Process, and the Labor of Laundry (2025, Punctum) + film, The Washing Society (45 min) A book launch for Hand Book: A Manual on Performance, Process, and the Labor of Laundry (2025, Punctum Books) is a collection of writings and images from a performance and film set within a neighborhood laundromat, a microcosm of service work within our urban reality. With a focus on the people who are paid to wash and fold, Hand Book explores the convergence of dirt, stains, money, identity, and desire. Informed by both theory and history, filmmaker-poet Lynne Sachs and playwright Lizzie Olesker construct a model for making a site-specific work incorporating both live performance and film. A short performance by Jasmine Holloway and screening of the experimental film, The Washing Society (45 min), made in parallel with the book,...

Larry Cook and Dr. Nicole Fleetwood in Conversation The Center for Black Visual Culture, the Department of Social & Cultural Analysis, and Tilt Institute are pleased to present a public conversation with artist Larry W. Cook and scholar and curator Dr. Nicole R. Fleetwood, focusing on contemporary photographic practices among system-impacted artists on January 30 from 6:00 - 8:00 in Flex Space (4th Floor of 20 Cooper Square, New York, NY) Cook and Fleetwood will discuss how system-impacted photographers are generating new image cultures that exceed the limits of criminal index/surveillance strategies and their aesthetics: experimenting with self-representation, collaborating across distance and time, building personal and collective archives, and creating new visual languages of representation, refusal, and futurity. Together, they will reflect on how photography becomes a medium not only for survival and testimony, but also for re-...

Wherever There is Light Exhibition Opening On January 29, TILT Institute for the Contemporary Image (TILT) and Center for Black Visual Culture at the Institute of African American Affairs unveil Wherever There Is Light, an extraordinary traveling exhibition featuring the photography of four formerly incarcerated artists as they share their experiences within the United States penal system. Through emotional and powerful images, the exhibition explores the profound impact of mass incarceration on individuals, families, and communities. The show is curated by Dr. Melanee C. Harvey and is led by Washington, D.C.-based photographer Larry W. Cook. Exhibiting artists include José Díaz, Don “Ike” Jones, Vernon Ray, Akeil Robertson, and Larry Cook. Through digital photography, portraits, and vernacular photography, these artists share their personal stories and perspectives of the prison system, offering an intimate and powerful explorati...

Reflections in Black: A Reframing Book Launch Join The Center for Black Visual Culture and Tisch School of Arts, Department of Photography and Imaging as we celebrate the release of Reflections in Black: A Reframing, the 25th anniversary edition of Dr. Deborah Willis’ internationally acclaimed publication Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present. This pre-publication book launch will include a reception, a panel of selected speakers, and will conclude with a book signing. Limited books will be available, and sold on a first come first served basis. About the Publication Originally published in 2000, Reflections in Black, published by Liveright, was the first single-volume work to collect the images of leading African American photographers—from the daguerreotype to the digital age. Through its sheer power and inherent beauty, Deborah Willis’s groundbreaking assemblage of photographs of African Ame...

From Mudbound to Freshwater: An Intimate Conversation About Film Scoring with dream hampton and Tamar-kali Presented by The Center for Black Visual Culture and Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, join us for From Mudbound to Freshwater: An Intimate Conversation About Film Scoring with dream hampton and Tamar-kali. This special evening pairs two visionary artists for an illuminating conversation on the film scoring process and the role of sound in shaping stories. From orchestras and found sounds, to Oscar-nominated features and intimate shorts, they will reflect on the intersections of film, music, and memory, how moments of success and failure shape an artist’s path, and why some of the most powerful scores begin with the sounds of everyday life. This program invites us to listen more closely to sound, cinema, and each other.This event is co-sponsored by The Hemispheric Institute at New York University. CBVC Fall Artist-Scholar ...