Dance | Reclaiming the Memories of the Black Ark: A Celebration of Chicago’s Social Dance History

Coinciding with the career survey exhibition Gary Simmons: Public Enemy, a series of MCA programs activates Gary Simmons’s sculptural installation work, Recapturing Memories of the Black Ark. Inspired by the Black Ark—Lee “Scratch” Perry’s famous recording studio in Kingston, Jamaica, where he pioneered dub reggae—Simmons’s sculptural installation serves as a flexible stage for conversations, music, and performance.

For this day-long celebration of Chicago’s social dance history, the piece is being temporarily installed under the glittering chandelier of the South Shore Cultural Center Dining Room to commemorate the importance of the neighborhood and the history of Black social culture in Chicago.

Co-organized with Honey Pot Performance