Ep. 4: Reframing History: Black Perspectives on the Origins of Performance Art—with Uri McMillan, Howardena Pindell, Greg de Cuir Jr., and Nao Bustamante

This episode of UNBOUND reexamines the origins of performance art through Black perspectives, featuring scholars Uri McMillan and Greg de Cuir Jr. and artist Howardena Pindell. We explore how performance and video art have shaped concepts of Blackness, and vice-versa, focusing on the liberating use of alter-egos and avatars. McMillan’s concept of “objecthood” reveals how Black artists have strategically embodied fictional personas to critique, and at times evade, systemic racism and patriarchal structures. These contemporary practices are then contextualized within a longer, alternative lineage of performance art, one that reckons with the violent history of slavery in nineteenth and twentieth century America. Artists Nao Bustamante and Howardena Pindell are also featured in this episode, each highlighting how shapeshifting practices and camp aesthetics can challenge racist and sexist Eurocentric narratives.

Speakers: Nao Bustamante, Greg de Cuir Jr., Uri McMillan, Howardena Pindell

Hosts: Line Ajan and Lisa Long