New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
‘Fashion is art’
INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ARTS & IDEAS REDEFINES ART, BUILDS CONNECTIONS
Organizers at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in New Haven are not only redefining the definition of “art” but also “international” for the 27th edition, running through June 26. With more than 200 in-person programs, the festival focuses on meeting community’s needs and building connections.
This year’s festival, Connect, especially evinces its mission to promote connections from the community to the arts and to each other. In that vein, the festival has also expanded its Spanish-language programming.
“This season we honor our relationship to each other, to ourselves, to our lived experiences and cultures and our global community,” said festival executive director Shelley Quiala.
While arts may get the lion’s share of attention here, the Ideas segment of the festival is quite compelling. With leading thinkers and innovators, programming here addresses myriad topics from climate change to today’s labor movement and are designed to engage, entertain and inspire.
“Connect has something for everyone,” said director of programming & community impact Malakhi Eason. “From wearable art at the ICONIC Connections Fashion Expo to the deep community of Octavia E. Butler’s ‘Parable of the Sower,’” to the return of children’s programming on the Green, as well as headliner concerts from around the globe, there are a million ways you can connect with us.”
Over 85 percent of the festival’s programs will be free also, including several headline acts like renowned jazz singer Gregory Porter, who just performed for the Queen of England during his U.K. tour. The diverse list of events and performances includes music, dance, theater and more. Highlights include comedian Michelle Buteau, Octavia E. Butler’s Parable of the Sower: An Opera by Toshi Reagon and Bernice Johnson Reagon, New Haven favorites Las Cafeteras and Persian vocalist/activist Liraz.
Touring in support of his album, All Rise, Porter makes his New Haven debut June 19 with a set that will appeal to fans as well as those unfamiliar with his work. While new music will be prominently featured, he will pull music from all of his records. He said that the themes of love and optimism espoused on this record are very much of the time.
“At this stage for all of us, I think we are in some revival of the way we live our lives and the way we express love … it’s a new world coming out of COVID,” he said. “So really I am just expressing my optimism I have about life and love. This is a theme that runs through my music from my very first record.”
Porter is looking to connect with fans as well as new audiences. “I love an audience that is both Gregory Porter fans but also music fans that don’t know exactly what they’re getting when they come to see me. I love an audience that is open and their ears don’t have expectations that is just ready to open their hearts and ears to the music.”
Also hoping to blow away audience expectations is Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s artistic director Melissa M. Young, who is excited for the group to make its festival debut. Audiences can expect a well-balanced program that runs from light-hearted to thought-provoking and, at times, energetically edgy and driving.
“If someone wanted to feel like they went on the best artistic roller coaster, this program is certainly for them,” she said. “I love to make certain we exceed the audience’s expectations just by the level of work that our artists do.”
Young notes the theatre group and festival share a similar mindset. “I think it’s important to curate programming where audiences can see a reflection of themselves to challenge who they are, to really rethink who they are as human beings in this world, in their community and within their own families.”
Also new to the festival is the ICONIC Connections Fashion Expo June 18, featuring five designers, including local stars Neville Wisdom and La’Moo Designs as well as Project Runway’s Prajje Oscar. Over 20 models from the community will embody the festival’s focus on inclusivity, representing a range of ages, sizes and races.
Eason is redefining art by showcasing fashion as art. Noting that each garment has a story, he said this show focuses on Connecticut-based designers and designers from outside of the state that all are inspired in their work by their global roots.
“We wanted to not only show why fashion is art but also to show fashion through culture,” Eason said “Our designers are from different parts of the world, different cultures and their designs will be accompanied by some cultural history.”
Besides redefining art, Eason also sought to expand the term “international,” saying that often one defines those living outside the country as international. “One thing we sometimes forget about is wherever we are at — especially in the city of New Haven — people from all over the world are right here and that representation is considered international,” he said. “So pulling from our community, having people perform on stage that are from our community is what keeps us redefining that word international.”
For full schedule, artidea.org.