The Apollo. Screening of Roger Ross Williams’ documentary film

The Public Program devoted to Nari Ward’s exhibition Ground Break continues on Thursday 27 June 2024 at 9.30 PM with the open-air screening of the documentary film “The Apollo” (2019) by Oscar-winning director Roger Ross Williams. The screening, in the outdoor spaces of Pirelli HangarBicocca, took place in direct relation to Nari Ward’s work Apollo/Poll.

The Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York, is one of the landmarks of the Harlem Renaissance and the birth of Jazz in the 1930s and contributed significantly to forging a sense of belonging within the African American community to date. Many of the greatest African American musicians and performers have performed on its stage, including Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, the Jackson 5, and Billie Holiday.

The screening of the documentary film took place next to Nari Ward’s work Apollo/Poll (2017), installed outside the exhibition space. The light sculpture reproduces the theatre sign which, by flashing, makes the two words ‘Apollo’ and ‘Poll’ legible. The reference is to the “Amateurs Night”, an evening at the Apollo Theatre dedicated to emerging artists, in which the audience is asked to poll for the best performer, but also, in an indirect way, to the spectacularizing of politics on the occasion of the American elections.

The event is realized with the collaboration of Sky Arte, thanks to HBO for the concession.
The Public Program is curated by Giovanna Amadasi.

The film was shown in Italian.