Segal Centre Presents LIBERATION'S RADIANCE Light Installation

The Segal Centre for Performing Arts is proud to be partnering with Black Theatre Workshop (BTW) on Liberation's Radiance, a light installation by BTW's Artist in Residence, Lighting Designer Tim Rodrigues, to commemorate Black History Month.

Just as the Segal Centre is a place to gather, to reflect on important ideas as a community, to experience beauty and awe, and to be entertained by amazing artists - this installation intends to connect people around a work of free public art from February 1 to 28, 2021.

As theatres wait to safely invite artists and patrons back inside their venues, this is an opportunity to celebrate the beauty of the Segal Centre's façade as a space to elevate BIPOC voices through visual art. The light installation which will be displayed in loops will be visible to passersby on the front of the Segal Centre (5170 chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine) every day starting at 5:30 p.m. To respect curfew guidelines, the installation will run until 7:30 p.m. every night, with more information regarding run times to be announced as restrictions and government guidelines are updated.

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"Beyond the global pandemic that we have all been living through, the events of the past year have highlighted a growing need to address the anti-Black violence that is still prevalent in society both here and abroad. Black Theatre Workshop is honoured to collaborate with the Segal Centre to pay tribute to our communities, during Black History Month," said Black Theatre Workshop Artistic Director Quincy Armorer.

"During a time of reckoning for racial justice and a rise in anti-Semitism, the Black and Jewish communities coming together to embrace our collective aspiration to protect all people is embodied in this show of lights. We're honoured to partner with Black Theatre Workshop and commemorate Black History Month at the Segal Centre," said Segal Centre Artistic and Executive Director Lisa Rubin.

Every week a new text reflecting on how Liberation's Radiance and designer Tim Rodrigues' Artist Statement speaks to them and their experiences will be released from artists in Black Theatre Workshop's Artist Mentorship Program (AMP). These texts will be available on the Segal Centre and BTW websites. Segal Centre BIPOC Artist Advocate and Artistic Advisor Dayane Kamana Ntibarikure will host weekly discussions via Zoom to discuss the reflections and chat with the artists. Registration for these open discussions will be available at segalcentre.org.

"As we continue to navigate this Dark Night of the Soul for our civilization, I shift my attention towards the light. The light workers, the leaders, and activists who no matter the challenges keep us moving towards the light and out of the shadows. Liberation's Radiance is a beautiful reminder that we are a resilient and hopeful people and that Black lives matter yesterday, today, and tomorrow," said Segal Centre BIPOC Artist Advocate and Artistic Advisor Dayane Kamana Ntibarikure.

Lighting Designer Tim Rodrigues, Artist in Residence at Black Theatre Workshop, explains his vision for the project as such:

Liberation's Radiance is a lighting installation featuring a green spectral-like light, acting as a beacon for liberation in the middle of a deep blue night. Drawing upon a notion that liberators emanate light / contain light, Liberation's Radiance is an offer from the Artist to mark the occasion of Black History Month, using the installation to illustrate that the paths ancestors travelled towards liberation are still illuminated and lead ever towards freedom. The green LED light pulses, floats, and cuts through the darkness as a guide amidst the on-going process of liberation.

The audience is invited to take in the movement of the light and reflect on the continued need to move towards equity, justice and respect, so that all can share in the freedoms promised in the framework of our societal structures and institutions.a??a??

The central lighting effect in the installation is inspired by a description of "conduction" in the novel The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates. In the novel, Coates describes occurrences of conduction as the conductor and those in their close proximity being transported hundreds of miles in minutes using water as a conduit. The enslaved in the South are transported to their freedom in the North and the journey taken is described as being wrapped in a spectral green mist. The conductor is described as being alight in a pale green light, eyes aflame "with the same green fire that had grown up out of the night". ("23." The Water Dancer:a??aa??Novel, by Ta-Nehisi Coates, One World, 2020, pp. 270-271.)a?? In the book of Exodus, after leading the enslaved Hebrews out of Egypt, Moses is described as having a radiant face after he converses with God on Mounta??Sinai. (Exodus 34:29-35, New International Version)a??

The idea of liberators emanating light / containing light became a bridge between the ancestral stories told in Coates' novel, those in the Old Testament and the oral histories of the Underground Railroad. The desire is for shared stories of liberation to be a part of how all communities observe and partake in the celebration of Black History Month.a??

For the most up-to-date information, follow the Segal Centre on social media or visit www.segalcentre.org

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