PERSISTENCE ARCHIVE
Persistence Archive serves as a tool in public & oral history as a social practice, provoking a reexamination & reclamation of narrative power, as well as interrogation of systems of assimilation.
This community-driven collection was conceived in New York City as the COVID-19 pandemic had both arrived and driven the city to its closure in March, 2020. By the time of its first anniversary, independent artists rallied and organized to share their truths, advocate & uplift one another, and share visions for a sustainable, equitable balance in the cultural sector, all while global social solidarity movements call for land-back, fights for social, professional, and economic equity.
These interviews began first as an act of advocacy for freelance workers, with intention to document creative practices and the embodied experiences that inform them.
Narratives for the purpose of this work concern makers of performance, visual, and social practice works, including community advocacy, building, and organizing, while centering a focus on memory and cultural heritage.
Learn More
> Oral History: Defined – Oral History Association
> How Do We Define Public History? – National Council on Public History
> About Brandon Perdomo, Creative Director
> Booking for Consultations & Services
Angeline Butler
New York, NYC, USA
2020, 29 November
// coming soon
- Excerpt: The sixty-eight acre farm
- Encore Session: Lift Every Voice: Racism, Power, and Activism in the Arts: A Conversation with Angeline Butler
Elizaveta P. Buzytsky
Brooklyn, NYC, USA
2021, 19 August
// coming soon
Mx. Sugar Mamasota
Brooklyn, NYC, USA
2020, 1 Oct
- Collection: sheddingsomethingshedding
Sugar, from the South // All my Mama’s gonna hear is “Devil-worshipping stripper!” // On stage, gender assignments, Grotesque Burlesque, and Apparently a Clown Slut // Early-on // Stripping away layers & being close - where burlesque is for me these days // Knitting, Ancestors, Grandma's beads // Double-dutch in the Rockaways // Ancestral jewelry, I'm not stuck here
Natie
Brooklyn, NYC, USA
2023
- Collection: Brooklyn Folk: Voices from NYC’s International Folk Music Traditions
Kréol Soul: voice, violin
Lazarus Nazario
Bronx, NYC, USA
2020, 23 Oct
- Collection: sheddingsomethingshedding
The boogie-down, these days // Cop-Out // Zero / Fuck Cop-Out // Pintura Acrillica // Underground Black Market Devotional Propaganda // Columbus, disgusting - “Why would you do that?”
Sara Meghdari
Brooklyn, NYC, USA
2020, 2 Oct
- Collection: sheddingsomethingshedding
Lately - In the studio - When we met // Silent Self // Performance for the camera - the rousari, feeling of nostalgia, history, independence // Family // NYC, 3rd Space, Experiments // Something I would have like to have heard when I was younger
Julia Patinella
Brooklyn, NYC, USA
2023
- Collection: Brooklyn Folk: Voices from NYC’s International Folk Music Traditions
Sicilian folk, Spanish Flamenco: voice, guitar
Mehrnam Rastegari
Brooklyn, NYC, USA
2023
- Collection: Brooklyn Folk: Voices from NYC’s International Folk Music Traditions
Persian classical: kamancheh
Eléonore Weill
Brooklyn, NYC, USA
2023
- Collection: Brooklyn Folk: Voices from NYC’s International Folk Music Traditions
Occitan folk, Yiddish Klezmer: voice, accordion, flutes, hurdy-gurdy