With movement and spoken word, Hart will explore vogue, bomba, and gospel music as examples of how Black art forms imagine liberation through the materials of empire. The performance will be followed by a talkback moderated by Joshua Chambers-Letson.
Benji Hart is an interdisciplinary artist, author, and educator whose work centers Black radicalism, queer liberation, and prison abolition. Their words have appeared in numerous anthologies, and been published in Time, Teen Vogue, The Advocate, and elsewhere. They have led popular education and arts-based workshops for organizations internationally, and presented at the Barnard Center for Research on Women, the American Repertory Theater, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Their performances have been featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Den Frie, and BRIC. They have held fellowships with Yaddo, MacDowell, and Chicago Dancemakers Forum.
Joshua Chambers-Letson (JCL) is Professor of Performance Studies and Asian American Studies at Northwestern University. Author of After the Party: A Manifesto for Queer of Color Life and A Race So Different: Law and Performance in Asian America; co-editor of José Esteban Muñoz’s The Sense of Brown with Tavia Nyong’o and Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s China Trilogy: Three Parables of Global Capital with Christine Mok, JCL is also series co-editor of NYU Press’s Sexual Cultures series with Tavia Nyong’o and Ann Pellegrini. Working on a monograph about queer love and loss, JCL is the 2022-2023 Thinker-in-Residence with the Felix Gonzalez-Torres Foundation.
Curated by Noa Fields.
This is a hybrid event, which will be offered in-person and via livestream.
In-Person Attendance: Masks are strongly encouraged and available at check-in for those who would like to wear one. Please note that some event performers may choose to perform without a mask. The Foundation reserves the right to update this policy if community levels of COVID-19 increase significantly. Read our full COVID-19 Health & Safety Guidelines. Guests are encouraged to register in advance. (
Livestream Attendance: The livestream link will be shared with registered guests on the day of the event. In order to receive the livestream details, please register in advance here.
The Poetry Foundation’s events are completely free of charge and open to the public. This event will include CART captioning and ASL interpretation. For more information about accessibility at the Poetry Foundation, please visit our Accessibility Guide.