E. Village people
Tompkins Sq. Library fest captures ’20 feel, virtually
His is the philosophy of connection, an unwavering belief that the weighty issues of 2020, from the pandemic to politics to the Black Lives Matter protests, are intrinsically linked together.
And the thread that ties one to another, says photographer Paul Adrian Davies, is the street.
“As a photographer, I am always drawn to the street as a place to capture the mood of the moment,” said Davies, who has photographed everything in the city this year from climate change demonstrations to memorials honoring Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“As well as providing the stage for activities, the streets participate, observe and comment on these societal changes through posters, murals, graffiti and signage. These are the cave paintings of our modern society.”
Davies’ “cave paintings” will be on display this weekend as part of the Tompkins Square Library East Village Arts Festival.
Davies will be one of several artists featured in a weeklong series of online exhibits documenting the New York City experience.
The festival kicks off Friday evening at 6 p.m. with a performance of “Sonic Gathering XIX,” a micro-opera by composer John King, who began showcasing a weekly series of online performances after the coronavirus pandemic shut down in-person concerts.
King has teamed up with choreographer Brandon Collwes for a series of performances with a rotating cast of dancers and musicians, now in its 19th iteration.
The festival is in its fourth year, and its first online, and despite the loss of intimacy, organizers said the makeshift medium has its advantages.
“Hopefully, we’ll get back to a place where we do in-person programs,” said Tompkins Square Library manager Corinne Neary. “Some things are actually suited for online.”
In the months since the pandemic swept the city, Neary and most library staffers have had to adapt their service models.
That has meant grab-and-go pickups at branches, online classes and virtual programs.
Among the meetings that have moved online are the library’s weekly book discussions.
“It has been a great year for reading,” Neary said. “I have better attendance now at the book discussions than I did before. I have more people coming this year than I ever have, people from Russia, Australia. We have people from all over the world now and all over the country. That’s something we certainly didn’t have before.”
The festival will include an online book discussion Thursday called “Power at the Roots: Gentrification, Community Gardens, and the Puerto Ricans of the Lower East Side.”
Other festival events include a virtual walking tour of Tompkins Square Park and an exhibit of mom-and-pop storefronts.
Visitors can sign up for the free events on the Tompkins Square Library website, https://www.nypl. org/locations/tompkins-square.