Venus Fly Trap

BlackStar Projects

Joiri Minaya, Container #4, 2020, 60" x 40". Photo courtesy of the artist. — Joiri Minaya, *Container #4*, 2020, 60" x 40". Photo courtesy of the artist.

Joiri Minaya, The Cloaking of the statue of Christopher Columbus behind the Bayfront Park Amphitheatre, 2019; dye-sublimation print on spandex fabric and wood structure; Miami, FL. Commissioned by Fringe Projects Miami. Photo by Zachary Balber, courtesy of the artist. — Joiri Minaya, *The Cloaking of the statue of Christopher Columbus behind the Bayfront Park Amphitheatre,* 2019; dye-sublimation print on spandex fabric and wood structure; Miami, FL. Commissioned by Fringe Projects Miami. Photo by Zachary Balber, courtesy of the artist.

Joiri Minaya, Container #7, 2020, 60" x 40". Photo courtesy of the artist.

Recipient

Grant Year 2022

Grant Amount $301,152

Status Forthcoming

Updated May 30, 2023

Multidisciplinary artist Joiri Minaya collaborates with writer and curator Dessane Lopez Cassell on an outdoor performance series, short film, and publication that center Black and Indigenous narratives. Through ethnobotanical designs and movement, the collaborators, both members of the Dominican diaspora, examine Philadelphia’s colonialist horticultural practices and the cultural significance of plants for Native and Black people of the Americas, especially the Caribbean. An accompanying special issue of Seen, BlackStar’s journal of film and visual culture, focuses on Caribbean art, performance, and film, allowing readers to further engage with the ideas that inform the project.

The total grant amount represents project funding plus an additional 20% in unrestricted general operating support.

Recipient

BlackStar Projects

BlackStar Projects produces the annual BlackStar Film Festival, a Philadelphia film festival centered on films by and for Black, brown, and indigenous people, often referred to as “the Black Sundance.” Since its inception in 2012, the festival has showcased over 400 films from nearly 20 countries and five continents. The organization also hosts screenings, exhibitions, seminars, and other programming throughout the year and produces a journal of film and visual culture.

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