ExpressingBoston is a new initiative that will uplift the identities and cultural art forms of Boston’s over 140 ethnic communities through cultural flash mobs that embed arts into daily life across all of the city’s neighborhoods. This initiative is a small grants opportunity for individuals, groups, and organizations.
Don’t consider yourself an artist?
Don’t have 501(c)(3) status or a fiscal sponsor?
That’s okay! ExpressingBoston is open to everyone.
Want to learn more about applying for or participating in ExpressingBoston?
Join us for an INFORMATION SESSION:
Tuesday, November 13
6:00-7:30 pm
Viet-Aid:
42 Charles Street, Suite E
Dorchester, 02122
Cultural Flash Mob (noun):A person or group of people who assemble suddenly in a place, perform an unexpected and coordinated act for a brief time, and then disperse, for the purpose of cultural expression. Flash mobs are often organized via internet communications or social media. A cultural flash mob can take an endless number of forms.
While we cannot imagine all of the possibilities for a cultural flash mob, here are some examples of what one can look like:
- A presentation of traditional Vietnamese dance in front of the Strand Theatre in Upham’s Corner organized by a Vietnamese-American dance company. Participants include members of the dance company’s network who learned the dance through a YouTube video that was shared via Facebook prior to the presentation of the cultural flash mob.
- A temporary photography exhibit in the Boston Common about the Puerto Rican immigrant experience. The installation includes a blank canvas that invites passersby to write about or depict their own immigration stories that then also become part of the exhibit.
- An interpretation of a sword-fight scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet by two Haitian-American teenagers who perform in Haitian-Creole on a subway platform.
These random acts of culture will diversify the types of art created and presented in Boston while challenging normalized notions of what qualifies as art, who can create art, where art should be exhibited, and how audiences should engage with art.
The sky’s the limit! We need you to imagine and propose all of the infinite possibilities for a cultural flash mob