Nick Cave: AS IS

Nick Cave AS IS at Municipal Auditorium
March 20, 2016 ~ 2:30 pm

Nick Cave, the most popular, most collected, most innovative Artist in the World – is coming to Shreveport! An internationally renowned Artist, Sculptor, Performer, and self-described “Messenger,” Cave is known for his elaborate, symbolic Sound Suits that are made to hide the human and expose the inner message of social consciousness.

Nick Cave’s work is featured in Museums, Galleries, and Private Collections all over the world including the Smithsonian, Museum of Modern Art, New York, Seattle Art Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum, and the Trapholt Museum in Denmark. Cave’s exhibitions, installations, and performative works span the globe including London, Paris, China, Seoul, Jerusalem, and Portugal.

So why is Nick Cave coming to Shreveport? He has a “message” to share: Nick Cave wants this community to hear the voices of Shreveport Common – the important residents, many who live in the care of Social Service Organizations – Providence House, Mercy Center, VOA McAdoo and the Youth Programs at the VOA Lighthouse – along with the voices of the Artists who are imagining and creating this 9-block UNcommon Cultural development. Shreveport Common is founded on the principles of Authenticity, Creativity, Sustainability and Community – not planned as an Arts District, but a community of people who embrace creativity and individuality and seek to “stumble upon the fun.”

Cave will first “blanket” Shreveport with elaborately beaded, woven, constructed blankets that symbolize the “hidden stories” of those who are not heard in our community. Then, in the Production, the community will “UNcover” the stories of the people who have been “UNseen” before now through theatre, dance, art, music, film, and sound installations in a Performative Production at the Municipal Auditorium on Sunday, March 20.

Local artists selected by Nick Cave to partner with him during this “Artists Residency” include Sherry Tamburo and Heather Beauvais – working with the Providence House to make beaded blankets and Raffia costumes, Luther Cox, Jr. the Production Choreographer, and Poetic X – Spoken Word Artist who was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts as Poet of the Month, April, 2011. Additionally, Karen La Beau is selected to partner with Cave and the VOA McAdoo, Jerry Davenport will lead the residency and making of blankets, spirit sticks and armature embellishments with the teens at the VOA Lighthouse, and Kathryn Usher will lead the making of 15 symbolic blankets representing the stories of the residents of Mercy Center, a program of the Philadelphia Center. The Production Director is Josh Porter of the Shreveport Regional Arts Council; Programmer is Nadine Charity, and Neighborhood Coordinator is Esther Kennedy, Shreveport Common Project Administrator.

Mark your calendars. Sunday March 20
Tickets will go on sale in October.
Looking to volunteer to be a part of the Nick Cave Residency? Contact us here!