ABOUT THE PROJECT
Mapping Siwanoy Forest explores the relationship between land stewardship and artmaking as life practices that make us more resilient and whole. Seton Falls Park and Ujamaa Garden, a youth-centered learning space, resting ground, and community garden located in the Northeast Bronx, are the last remnants of the vast Siwanoy Forest. the elders of the Seton Falls Park Preservation Coalition have spent decades defending the natural habitat that remains. This oral history project trains young people in the neighborhood, already connected to Ujamaa Garden, in this archival practice. This project will develop and teach an oral history + storytelling curriculum that bridges artistic practice and land stewardship. Students at Ujamaa will learn the environmental history of the land that surrounds them, connect this history to other communities in the world, be introduced to self-expression and narration methods, and build relationships with elders who remember the forest and the events that led to its disappearance. Students will also collect and edit oral histories and design a listening map around their neighborhood that traces the forest and raises awareness about the importance of green spaces in urban neighborhoods.
Meet the Artist
Guided by Black Feminist Insurgency, asmara is dedicated to the reality that freedom is a place we can build and arrive at in this lifetime. They study and practice traditions of feminist revolution to reignite the liberatory world-building that occurs before, during, and in the wake of global systems of domination. As an artist of the experimental tradition, she focuses on raising social empathy through intimate community building and the creative practices of writing, performance, and film. As part of this practice, asmara grows food for free distribution to support resilient, sovereign community members at Ujamaa Garden in the Northeast Bronx.