ABSCONDED: An Election Day Performance by DRAGONFLY
DRAGONFLY (Robin LaVerne Wilson) performing ABSCONDED on Labor Day, 2020. Image courtesy of Grace Exhibition Space, NYC.
On November 3, 2020, DRAGONFLY (Robin LaVerne Wilson / Miss Justice Jester) will perform ABSCONDED #EjectionDay2020, a work that honors the life and legacy of Ona Maria Judge Staines through the creation of a living monument that moves through the streets of New York City.
DRAGONFLY (Robin LaVerne Wilson) performing ABSCONDED on Labor Day, 2020. Image courtesy of Grace Exhibition Space, NYC.
Ona Judge was born into slavery before the American Revolution. She was a seamstress and Martha Washington's body servant and "pet." During Washington’s second term, on May 21, 1796, at age 22, Judge quietly absconded from Philadelphia on a ship to New Hampshire as the Washingtons ate dinner. With the help of Free Black and abolitionist communities, she evaded capture for the rest of her life.
DRAGONFLY (Robin LaVerne Wilson) performing ABSCONDED on Labor Day, 2020. Image courtesy of Grace Exhibition Space, NYC.
ABSCONDED #EjectionDay2020 is DRAGONFLY’s second iteration of Ona Judge as a living monument. The project continues in New York City, and is also slated to be invoked at George and Martha Washington monuments and other historical landmarks worldwide. The artist’s goal is to uplift the memory of a forgotten American Founding Mother, amplify the paradox of Black freedom as fugitivity, highlight the complexities of American chattel slavery, and contribute to the ongoing conversations about who is memorialized as we push towards decolonization.
DRAGONFLY (Robin LaVerne Wilson) performing ABSCONDED on Labor Day, 2020. Image courtesy of Grace Exhibition Space, NYC.
Watch the live performance of ABSCONDED #EjectionDay2020 on HemiTV starting at 12:00 PM (EDT). Available on all platforms and devices.
Date: #EjectionDay2020 - Tuesday, November 3, 2020
Time(s):12:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
Performance Route (all times are approximate):
12:00pm - Seneca Village in Central Park
12:20pm - Teddy Roosevelt Statue at the Museum of Natural History
12:30pm - Frederick Douglass Statue at the New York Historical Society
12:35pm - Columbus Avenue Promenade
12:50pm - Columbus Avenue and Broadway Intersection
1:00pm - San Juan Hill — Lincoln Center
1:30pm - Columbus Circle & Trump International Hotel
Event is free and open to the public. Social distancing and masks are required.
The performance is organized and sponsored by the artist and the Hemispheric Institute at New York University, and co-sponsored by Grace Exhibition Space, with Dr. Joy Brooke Fairfield (Producer), Sabura Rashid (Director), and Ak Jansen (Costume Design).