Touching Time: Minnahanonck/Roosevelt Island

Touching Time: Minnahanonck/Roosevelt Island

Video, 10:10min, 2023

Direction: Petra Kuppers // Camera, Edit, Sound: Kym McDaniel // Performers: Amy Ackerman, Stephanie Heit, Desiree Mwalimu, Mikel Mwalimu-Banks, Marina “Heron” Tsaplina, Petra Kuppers, and moira williams

A diverse cohort of disability artists in Lenape (Lenapehoking) Terrority (what is now known as New York City) come together for site-specific movement sketches on Minnahanonck (Roosevelt Island), a historical site of hospitals, mental asylums, and prisons. Moving amongst ghosts of the past, the artists seek to reclaim geographic and ableist narratives of abuse and dysfunction. Nature, sculpture, and the water are collaborators as they move throughout the island, acknowledging the land and envisioning inclusive futures. Touching Time: Minnahanonck/Roosevelt Island was commissioned as part of the Disability History Handbook for the National Park Service (NPS), itself a collaborative venture between the NPS and the National Council on Public History (NCP). The video will be part of the digital version of the Handbook.

Thank you to: The Disability History Handbook Project, the National Park Service, the National Council on Public History, the Speculative Embodiment Working Group/ University of Michigan Arts Initiative, Dance/USA Fellowship, University of Utah Professional Development Fund