free things to do in New York City
Free events for Thursday, 10/05/23
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Free Events, Free Things to Do in New York City!  Read More

Are you looking for free things to do in New York City (NYC) on October 5, 2023?

53 free events take place on Thursday, October 5 in New York City. Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides! Exciting, high quality, unique and off the beaten path free events and free things to do take place in New York today, tonight, tomorrow and each day of the year, any time of the day: whether it's a weekday or a weekend, day or night, morning or evening or afternoon, December or July, April or November! These events will take your breath away!

New York City (NYC) never ceases to amaze you with quantity and quality of its free culture and free entertainment. Check out October 5 and see for yourself. Summer or Winter, Spring or Fall! Just click on any day of the calendar above and you'll find most inspiring and entertaining free events to go to and free things to do on each day of October . Don't miss the opportunities that only New York provides!

Some events take place all year long: same day of the week, same time there are there for you to take advantage of. One of the oldest free weekly events in Manhattan is Dixieland Jazz with the Gotham Jazzmen, which happen at noon every Tuesday. Another example of an event that you can attend all year round on weekdays is Federal Reserve Bank Tour, which takes place every week day at 1 pm (but advanced reservations are required). You can take at least 13 free tours every day of the year, except the New Year Day, July 4th, and the Christmas Day. If you are classical music afficionado, you can spend whole day in New York going from one free classical concert to another. If you love theater, then New York gives you an option to attend plays and musicals free of charge, or at deep discount. You just need to have information about it. And we are here to make that information available to you.
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The quality and quantity of
free events,
free things to do
that happen in New York City
every day of the year
is truly amazing.

So don't miss the opportunities
that only New York provides:
stop wondering what to do;
start taking advantage of
free events to go to,
free things to do in NYC
today!

53 free things to do in New York City (NYC) on Thursday, October 5, 2023

All events are free unless otherwise noted.

Editor's Picks

free events nyc What is Aging, What is Health, and How Do They Relate to Each Other? (in-person and online)
free events nyc Vocal Work by William Byrd (In Person AND Online)
free events nyc Ragtime, Jazz and Songs from Around the World -- Outdoors
free events nyc Twelfth Night: Rollicking Shakespeare Comedy
free events nyc Works by Beethoven and More for Violin, Viola, and Cello
More Editor's Picks for 10/05/23
        

Workshop | Fitness Yoga Class


Experience something new or enhance your yoga practice with instructors from Chelsea Piers Fitness. A complimentary, hour-long Vinyasa Flow classes in the Maker's Studio and start your day with a bit of balance. Make sure to bring your own mat. All levels are welcome.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 am
Free

Discussion | New Frameworks for Food Security: India, China, and Shifting Global Orders (online)


The age-old challenge of food security used to be dominated by concisely-defined national and international policies for agriculture, hunger eradication, food distribution, and safety nets for emergencies. The older field is being reshaped in the 21st century with the convergence of climate change, biotechnology, geopolitics, and a political economy that contends with a dominance of multinational corporations. The new landscape demands more capacious frameworks for understanding food security--frameworks that simultaneously contend with local, national, and international measures; integrate environmental, animal, and human health; and bring into conversation the political economy of poverty eradication with climate change. Indeed, the Ukraine-Russia war vividly illustrates the need for more capacious frameworks for conceptualizing food security. The war has had a direct impact on food supplies and prices but also subsequently on debt and inflation worldwide, especially in the poorest countries. Panelists will take on the challenge of deliberating on frameworks for food security by discussing the state of global food security; China's and India's domestic food security policies; and the influence of China and India on global institutions such as the Food and Agricultural Organization.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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9:00 am
Free

Workshop | Pick Up Pickleball


An exciting fusion of badminton and tennis, pickleball has been proven to strengthen muscles, boost cardiovascular health, and enhance brain function.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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9:00 am
Free

Tour | 13 Tours, All City Neighborhoods, Any Time Of The Day, Choose One Tour Or Many


These free tours take place at various times during the day, all day long. You can make reservations for as many tours as your schedule allows. SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown Brooklyn Bridge, Brooklyn Heights + DUMBO 3 Hour Lower Manhattan Harlem Chelsea and the High Line 6 Hour Downtown Combined Greenwich Village Central Park Lower Manhattan Midtown Manhattan Grand Central Terminal Graffiti and Street Art Tours World Trade Center
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
Free

Conference | Per Aspera ad Astra: The Making of Soviet Jewish Selves


The beginnings of the Soviet Union saw a dramatic shift in rights, policy, and rhetoric toward non-Russian peoples. Many ethnic minorities that had been considered “aliens” were newly recognized as equal citizens. The early years of fledgling Soviet rule were characterized by national-territorial questions and state subsidization of regional languages. Jews were one of the officially recognized minority groups, and Yiddish, the common tongue of Eastern European Jewry, became an official language of the Soviet Union. While language was standardized, the question of identity remained open ended, multifaceted, and polemic. Geographically, socially, and ideologically scattered, Soviet-Jewish identity was anything but uniform. Zionists, Yiddishists, territorrialists, Bundists, socialists, and communists were equally invested in the question of national determination, with each group constructing their own sense of self. Under nascent ideology and infrastructure, the Soviet Jew quickly assumed leading roles in the production and administration of power and culture. These early years, though marked by adversity, held the potential and promise for astronomical success. Following this brief cultural renaissance, Jewish culture—namely Yiddish language culture—was stifled by the arrival of high Stalinism, whose imperative of russification was ruthlessly enforced. To stay afloat amidst the perilously shifting political currents, the Soviet Jew had to navigate the between the utopianism of the Soviet idea and the brutal conditions of its pursuit.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
Free

Fair | Street Fair


Free fun for the whole family, including arts, crafts, antiques, plants, entertainment, games, and more.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
Free

Fair | Street Fair


Free fun for the whole family, including arts, crafts, antiques, plants, entertainment, games, and more.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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10:00 am
Free

Film | Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) with Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, and Bela Lugosi


In the first of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello's horror vehicles for Universal Pictures, the inimitable comic duo star as railway baggage handlers in northern Florida. When a pair of crates belonging to a house of horrors museum are mishandled by Wilbur, the museum's director, Mr. MacDougal, demands that they deliver them personally so that they can be inspected for insurance purposes, but Lou's friend Chick has grave suspicions. Director: Charles Barton Cast: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange, Lenore Aubert, Jane Randolph Bud Abbott was an American comedian, actor and producer. He was best known as the "straight man" half of the comedy duo Abbott and Costello. Lou Costello was an American comedian, actor, and producer. He was best known for his double act with straight man Bud Abbott and their routine Who's on First? Bela Lugosi was a Hungarian–American actor, best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 horror classic Dracula, Ygor in Son of Frankenstein (1939), and his roles in many other horror films from 1931 through 1956.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 am
Free

Gallery Talk | Something Beautiful: Reframing La Colección


A tour to explore and discuss the on-view sections of the exhibition, the gallery's most ambitious presentation of its unique, complex, and culturally diverse permanent collection in over two decades. Start times on the hour.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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11:00 am
Pay-what-you-wish

Lecture | What is Aging, What is Health, and How Do They Relate to Each Other? (in-person and online)


A lecture by Alan A. Cohen, PhD, Biological Complexity and Health Longevity Associate Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, Mailman School of Public Health.
   New York City, NY; NYC
11:00 am
Free

Discussion | The Algorithmic State: Artificial Politics 3.0 (online)


How do artificial intelligence and the emerging concept of artificial consciousness shape our understanding of truth and autonomy in today's world? This panel brings together distinguished AI researcher and cognitive scientist, Joscha Bach; artist and creative technologist Ari Melenciano, founder of Afrotectopia; and Gerfried Stocker, the Artistic Director of the Ars Electronica festival in Linz, Austria. Focusing on computational anthropology and the latest applications of generative AI, they will assess the idea of truth, its ownership, and its implications for artistic practices now and in the future, in conversation with Isin Onol, Director of Curatorial Research at MA Curatorial Practice at the School of Visual Arts.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:00 pm
Free

Classical Music | Bach at Noon (In Person and Online)


Take a momentary respite from a busy day to enjoy a selection of organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach in an intimate venue.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:20 pm
Free

Concert | Piano in the Park


Come on by and tap your toes to The Big Apple's finest ragtime, stride, and jazz pianists around! Featuring special events and performances by distinguished musicians. Today's pianist: Brennen Ernst.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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12:30 pm
Free

Workshop | Pickleball Clinic


Check out what the buzz is all about! Learn the basic rules, strokes, and strategy at this instructor-led clinic followed by open play. Equipment is provided or bring your own. All skill levels are welcome.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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1:00 pm
Free

Classical Music | Vocal Work by William Byrd (In Person AND Online)


Marisa Curcio, Carey Hackett, sopranos; Joseph Hill, Gloria Kierniesky, altos; Sam Denler, Jonathan Hartwell, Kevin O'Malia, Kev Schneider, tenors; Les Anders, Stephen Bearse, basses; Timothy Smith, director, perform William Byrd's (1543-1623) Mass for Five Voices. William Byrd (1540 - 1623) was an English Renaissance composer. Considered among the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he had a profound influence on composers both from his native country and on the Continent. He is often considered along with John Dunstaple and Henry Purcell as one of England's most important early music composers.
   New York City, NY; NYC
1:15 pm
Free

Film | All The King’s Men (1949): drama


Charismatic Southern politician Willie Stark's idealism and good intentions give way to corruption after he becomes governor of Louisiana. Unfortunately for Stark, his right-hand man retains the same good moral fibre he had when the men both entered the political arena. Director: Robert Rossen Cast: Broderick Crawford, John Ireland, Mercedes McCambridge, Joanne Dru, John Derek, Shepperd Strudwick
   New York City, NY; NYC
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2:00 pm
Free

Lecture | “The Real Potatoes of Peru” in Shakespeare’s Windsor


A talk by Prof. Vin Nardizzi (University of British Columbia). Nardizzi is the author of Wooden Os: Shakespeare’s Theatres and England’s Trees (University of Toronto Press, 2013) and is writing a book called Marvellous Vegetables in the Renaissance.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:00 pm
Free

Discussion | Currency Risk: Sources and Impacts (in-person and online)


After reaching the highest level in 20 years, the US dollar has fallen 11% from its recent peak. Is this the start of a long-run trend? What forces drove the increase and recent decline, and will they continue? Currency levels and level changes can impact corporations, investors, sovereign entities, and the broader economy. In this panel, they will explore these risk topics further with currency experts.   Moderator: Bruce Fox, SVP, Head of Derivatives Investments, Genworth Panelists: Donald Cummings, Managing Director - Head of Linear FX Trading, Mizuho Patrick Locke, G10 FX Strategist, JPMorgan Chase & Co. David Shih, Managing Director, Corporate Derivatives, Goldman Sachs  
   New York City, NY; NYC
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4:00 pm
Free

Birdwatching | Park Birding Tour


Discover the surprising diversity of birds that call the park home during migratory season with guided tours by NYC Audubon, led by environmental educator and urban naturalist Gabriel Willow. The park is a hotspot for avian visitors and birders alike. Past sightings include warblers, tanagers, vireos, thrushes, and even a Chuck-will’s-widow.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Lecture | Women in Renaissance Plays (online)


Laura Caparrotti (Artistic Director, Kairos Italy Theater) takes you on a two-part discovery of the female presence in Renaissance theater, from the role of women actors on the stage to how female characters were depicted in plays. In this second encounter,  We will be reviewing the women in celebrated works such as Machiavelli’s La Mandragola and Clizia and the anonymous La Venexiana, as well as more obscure plays of the period.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:00 pm
Free

Book Discussion | A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy


Author, Nathan Thrall and the central figure of his forthcoming book, Abed Salama, will engage in a conversation joined by Democracy Now! host, Amy Goodman. Immersive and gripping, this is an intimate story of a deadly accident outside Jerusalem that unravels a tangle of lives, loves, enmities, and histories over the course of one revealing, heartbreaking day.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:30 pm
Free

Discussion | No More 24: Home Attendants’ Struggle Against the 24-Hour Work Day (in-person and online)


Home attendants – the majority of whom are immigrant women of color – work 24 hour shifts in NYC, often several in a row. Workers are calling to an end to the 24-hour workday as a form of racial and gendered exploitation, with severe tolls on their mental and physical health. This is a documentary screening, followed by panel discussion with home care workers and organizers on the intersection of labor, law, and the power of organizing at the grass roots.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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5:30 pm
Free

Concert | Ragtime, Jazz and Songs from Around the World -- Outdoors


The Lovestruck Balladeers enchant audiences with their masterful performances and inspired repertoire of ragtime, jazz, and beautiful songs from around the world. The versatile quintet features twin fiddles, clarinet, guitars, a mandolin trio, upright bass, banjo, piano and vocal harmonies. Their repertoire is a rare repository of American and international music seldom heard beyond the walls of low-lit dance halls at the edge of the known world.
   New York City, NY; NYC
5:30 pm
Free

Opening Reception | 2 Art Shows: Internal Perspectives / Seeking Solace


Internal Perspectives This exhibition is a mirror of the individual artists that make up the current membership of ARC Gallery. The work exhibited here testifies to the interconnectedness of our current membership and to the legacy we represent. Within this reflection, we pause to acknowledge the women who created the context of our 50 year artist-run organization Seeking Solace Photographs by Jane Stevens In uncertain times, Stevens seeks comfort in nature. Her photographs capture moments of tranquil contemplation and invite the viewer to share the serenity she finds. The photographs capture the magical and spiritual quality a camera can record as well as the essence and spirit of a place. Using this light sensitive medium, Jane Stevens captures a moment in time and the illusive quality of light.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Screening | 2 Films by Artist Renée Green


The artist has selected two films from her extensive catalog. Green will offer a brief introduction to the films. There will be a reception after the screening. Renée Green is an artist, writer, and filmmaker known for her highly layered and formally complex multimedia installations in which ideas, perception, and experience are examined from myriad perspectives. Via films, essays and writings, installations, digital media, architecture, sound-related works, film series and events her work engages with investigations into circuits of relation and exchange over time, the gaps and shifts in what survives in public and private memories as well as what has been imagined and invented. Green’s exhibitions, videos and films have been seen throughout the world in museums, art institutions, and biennials. 
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Albert Popa: Classical Dreams


The exhibit will feature works of spray paint and markers on glass, wood, and canvas — inspired by the artist’s graffiti roots.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Poetry Reading | kochanie, today i bought bread: Poems That Dare


A reading and conversation about "kochanie today i bought bread" with poet Uljana Wolf, translator Greg Nissan, and editor and poet Valzhyna Mort. Wolf's book crosses borders from East Germany into Poland, from fairy tales to the tallying of land torn by fateful past, from women’s voices “hibernating in documents,” to Lavinia’s spilling forth of red language. Hailed by critics for its “brief strokes that open up a wide historical space in which political doom is still present,” this book is a testament that the cartography we inherit is equal parts limit and dare.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Vaughn Spann: Trilogy


A body of new abstract paintings.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Discussion | City of Yes for Housing Opportunity


Commissioners of Department of City Planning and Housing Preservation & Development discuss the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. What are the goals for City of Yes for Housing Opportunity? How will this new policy initiative move the needle on quality of life for ALL New Yorkers? Access to affordable housing is a critical and persistent challenge for our city. Multiple administrations have put forth comprehensive plans to make our city's housing policies more equitable and just, addressing everything from high rents to homelessness. Join Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) Commissioner Adolfo Carrión and Department of City Planning (DCP) Director and Commissioner Daniel Garodnick to learn how their respective agencies are joining forces on Mayor Adams' City of Yes for Housing Opportunity to transform the way our city meets housing needs and provides equitable access to opportunity for ALL New Yorkers.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:00 pm
Free

Slide Lecture | The Legacy of New York Politician Samuel Tilden


For this illustrated lecture, Tilden expert and historian Dr. Eugene Weise will discuss the complex life of Samuel Tilden. He will delve into the lives of the 20th Century occupants of 15 Gramercy Park and their Gilded Age style of living.
   New York City, NY; NYC
6:00 pm
Free

Film | Colette and Justin (2022): Personal History in Postcolonial Congo


Alain Kassanda's debut film begins as a self-examination. How well does he know his grandparents? What does he know about his native Congo, which was partly imposed on his identity by colonizer Belgium? And what does he know about himself with that? He travels through time and his personal family history - in which he also beautifully brings the history of postcolonial Congo to life. He lets his grandparents look back on their lives, from their youth and first meeting to a complex political period. The Congo's first independent years pass by as a layered history, in which good and evil intertwine and Justin was assigned an important role. Director: Alain Kassanda 89 min. In Lingala and French with English subtitles Followed by a Q&A with director Alain Kassanda and Souleymane Bachir Diagne
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Dark Voyage: An American Privateer's War on Britain's African Slave Trade (online)


Christian McBurney will speak on his new book, a microhistory of an American privateer during the American Revolutionary War that sailed to the coast of Africa and attacked a British slave trading post and British slave ships, seriously disrupting and virtually halting the British slave trade during the war years. On the other hand, the privateersmen were out for profit and, in effect, became slave traders themselves.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Dark Voyage: An American Privateer's War on Britain's African Slave Trade (online)


Christian McBurney will speak on his new book, a microhistory of an American privateer during the Revolutionary War that sailed to the coast of Africa and attacked a British slave trading post and British slave ships, seriously disrupting and virtually halting the British slave trade during the war years. On the other hand, the privateersmen were out for profit and, in effect, became slave traders themselves.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Poetry Reading | Gentle Chaos: Poems, Tales, and Magic


From the wild imagination of Tyler Gaca, also known as TikTok's Ghosthoney, comes a beautiful compendium of poems, images, personal stories, and vignettes that explore magic, queerness, Gaca’s unique story, and the enchantment and comfort to be found in the weird, the dark, and the different.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Gallery Talk | Artist Talk: Encompassing Painting, Installation, and Sculpture


Artist Delcy Morelos joins curator Alexis Lowry and curatorial assistant Zuna Maza in conversation.   Delcy Morelos was born in Tierralta, Colombia, in 1967. Morelos’s practice encompasses painting, installation, and sculpture. Over the last decade the artist has focused on large-scale site-specific installations, using soil, clay, natural fibers, and other organic materials. Morelos graduated from La Escuela de Bellas Artes de Cartagena in 1991. Recent solo presentations include those at NC-arte, Bogotá (2018); Röda Sten Konsthall, Gothenburg, Sweden (2018); Galería Santa Fe, Bogotá (2019); Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge, Canada (2019); and Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires (2022). Recent group shows include Dum Som Jag (One as Another), Havremagasinet, Boden, Sweden (2016), and Sami Dáiddaguovddáš, Karasjok, Norway (2017); 45 Salón Nacional de Artistas: el revés de la trama (45th National Artists’ Salon: The Reverse of the Plot), Bogotá (2019); 59th Venice Biennale: The Milk of Dreams (2022); and the 5th Aichi Triennale: STILL ALIVE (2022). Her work is included in the collections of Banco de la República (Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango); Fundación Gilberto Alzate Avendaño; Museo de Arte Moderno de Cartagena; and Museo de Arte Moderno de Bogotá. She lives and works in Bogotá. 
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Lecture | The Altered Archive: Dreams, Ghosts, Murmurs


This lecture will start from some practices of research: indigenous archives buried in Argentinean dunes in the 19th century and later exhumed by the military; archives and letters buried near Mexican community museums at the time of the Revolution; buried archives of "cédulas reales" given to indigenous peoples before being "swallowed" by the “narco” in the last decade. Stories of ghosts haunting those archives, whispers of loss: loss of leaders, of resources, of land. But there are dreams about a different history: a history of continuous possession of the lands, dreams of a leader who waters the lands already dried up by the work of extractive companies, dreams of restitution of resources. What is encrypted in this history of buried treasures? What ideas of history, restitutive memory and community do they bring into play? How do these dreams speak of a possessed history, of connective memories and an altered language of time?
   New York City, NY; NYC
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6:30 pm
Free

Poetry Reading | 2 Faculty Poets Read


Poetry readings by faculty members Terrance Hayes and Deborah Landau, hosted by Catherine Barnett, followed by a reception/signing. 
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Colorful Palate: A Flavorful Journey Through a Mixed American Experience


n this contemporary coming-of-age tale, Raj Tawney tackles personal hot-button issues about race and identity through poignant, heartfelt moments centered on delicious meals, featuring exclusive recipes and photographs from the author’s multicultural family. As citizens continue to evolve and diversify within the United States, the ingredients that make up each flavorful household are waiting to be discovered and devoured. Tawney shares his coming-of-age memoir as a young man born into an Indian, Puerto Rican, and Italian-American family, his struggles with understanding his own identity, and the mouthwatering flavors of the melting pot from within his own childhood kitchen.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Book Discussion | Hamlet’s Children: Book Discussion with Emmy-Winning Actor Julianna Margulies (in-person and online)


Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Kluger’s latest work is a historical novel set in German-occupied Denmark during the Holocaust. Seen through the eyes of a young American’s assimilation into the world of his Danish relatives and their friends, the characters cunningly attempt to subvert the Germans’ iron grip on their kingdom by keeping their Jewish neighbors out of the Nazis’ murderous hands. Vibrant with memorable moments and fraught with tension, this artfully crafted narrative, both heartbreaking and uplifting, is a testament to the human spirit in its bleakest hours. Kluger is joined in conversation by Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award winning-actor Julianna Margulies with a book signing to follow. They will discuss the book and its connection to the Museum’s exhibition Courage to Act: Rescue in Denmark, about the incredible story of the Danish rescue, which opens in October 2023.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
$10 suggested donation...

Book Discussion | Kairos: Twisted Love Story in Post-Unification Germany (online)


Jenny Erpenbeck, one of German contemporary literature’s most distinct and powerful voices, discusses her latest novel, translated to English by Michael Hofmann. A twisted love story set during the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic, Kairos has been described as the great post-unification German novel. Erpenbeck is joined by Gal Beckerman, senior editor at The Atlantic, to discuss translation, the political novel, and representing a complicated history through the lens of an equally complex romance. After the conversation, Erpenbeck will sign and personalize books.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
$5-$10 suggested donation...

Movie in a Park | Lotte Gadgetvillle (2006): Animation from Estonia


Somewhere in Europe by a great sea stands a small village where inventing all manner of domestic gadgets is held in great esteem. The villagers organize an annual competition of new inventions. One of the best inventors in the village is Oskar, father of the energetic girl dog Lotte. His primary rival is Adalbert the Hare. Victory in this competition is very important as it would bring honour to the entire family. Directors: Heiki Ernits, Janno Põldma Stars: Evelin Võigemast, Andero Ermel, Argo Aadli 81 min.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Opening Reception | Regina Y. Evans: Our Blues: Ancestral Joy, Historical Trauma


A fabric sculpture installation highlighting the sacred life stories of black women as they travel across oppression and subjugation, and into manifested liberty and freedom. Through extensive scholarly research and excavation that is revealed through creativity, the installation looks at the duality of a journey from rage to joy (with the understanding that rage held with intention can be the fuel needed for upending injustices). This ideology will be viewed through both the lens of enslaved Momma Ancestors as they toiled in plantation fields, and through the feel of middle passaged ancestors calling forth nourishment, wisdom, and joy from their ocean floor graveyard. Black women are the insistence of many coded chapters, shades of black feet, divine feelings, quiet joys and spirited pathways. From the melancholy of the blues to the nurturing blues of the ocean deep, the stories of Momma Ancestors reside at life-abundant crossroads.  Regina Y. Evans, a native of Oakland, Ca, is an award winning Social Justice Playwright/Actor, Poet, Entrepreneur, Costume Designer, Installation Artist, and Filmmaker. Her creative work largely focuses upon the healing of Black girls and women, as well as the historical commodification of the Black female womb.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Book Discussion | South: Life Under Totalitarianism


Babak Lakghomi's novel is a hallucinatory reimagination of life in a world under totalitarianism, and an individual's quest for truth, agency, and understanding. B, a journalist, travels to the South of an unnamed desert country for a mysterious mission to write a report about the recent strikes on an offshore oil rig. From the beginning of his trip, he is faced with a cruel and broken landscape of drought and decay, superstitious believers of evil winds and spirits, and corrupt entities focused on manipulation and censorship. As he tries to defend himself against his unknown enemies, we learn about his father's disappearance, his fading love with his wife, and his encounter with an unknown woman. A puzzle-like novel about totalitarianism, surveillance, alienation, and guilt that questions the forces that control us.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
$5

Opening Reception | Touch Nature: Contemporary Artists from Austria


Seeking to explore the role of art in addressing the ongoing and increasingly severe ecological crisis, Touch Nature features a diverse selection of contemporary artists from Austria and the United States. Together, they engage in a dynamic dialogue that explores the impact of human activity on the environment and climate. However, takes on these subjects are faceted. In expressing their grievances, for example, some positions advocate activism while others describe new utopias. Whereas some artists explore the exploitation of landscapes for economic gains, others zoom in on the global consequences of current consumer behavior or the commodification of waste management. Many confront pressing issues, such as global food systems, the spread of epidemics, and the legacy of colonialism, while others draw inspiration from the restorative qualities of nature and its definitive role in various mythologies. Overall, Touch Nature aims to initiate and foster a discussion that encourages a shift in perspective. By envisioning a new relationship between humans and nature, one rooted in mindfulness and sustainability – in short a respectful approach to the environment -the exhibition embodies the spirit of the German scientist Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859), a pioneering figure in ecological thinking and founder of climatology, ecology, and oceanography, who famously believed that nature must be experienced through feeling.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Play | Twelfth Night: Rollicking Shakespeare Comedy


When Viola is shipwrecked and alone on the coast of Illyria, she disguises herself as her lost twin brother and finds herself in entangled in a hilarious love triangle. It all goes topsy-turvy as this "most wonderful" adaptation of Shakespeare whirls through love, rollicking foolery, mistaken identities, and joyful discovery. A student production.
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
Free

Discussion | Banned: Censorship and Free Expression in America (In Person AND Online)


Ayad Akhtar, Dave Eggers, and Imani Perry will be in conversation with Adrienne LaFrance to discuss the dangers of book banning and limits on freedom of expression. Throughout Banned Books Week and all year round, we celebrate the freedom to read and write. Yet intellectual freedoms and the right to free expression are under threat. Book bans are on the rise. Libraries are being targeted. History has shown that censorship is a symptom of failing health in democratic societies. Limits on our freedom of expression go hand in hand with intolerance and the rise of authoritarianism.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Workshop | Drawing for People Who Think They Can't Draw


Zine culture is anti-perfection, and raw art in zines can be endearing and/or powerful. Still, some people let a lack of drawing skill or talent get in the way of being bold about making art. This workshop will help you focus on the joy of making art. Artist and graphic designer Diane Zhou will lead a workshop on basic drawing skills. Her workshop will be focused on drawing minicomics and autobiographical comics, but is open to anyone who wants to connect more with drawing as a practice or a medium. Here is one of Diane's minicomic-style drawings:
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Lecture | The Art of Robert Smithson


Suzaan Boettger, art historian and critic, will discuss paintings she discovered and deciphered in research for her new book Inside the Spiral: The Passions of Robert Smithson. Smithson’s images’ correspondences to a disguised self unmasked his art as autobiography, prompting a biographical approach—the first for this artist. As a coolly innovative sculptor and essayist famous for Spiral Jetty, Smithson sought to suppress his earlier images of Christ’s crucifixion; angels hunky, lithe or buried; astrological symbols; and exploding penises in delirious undergrounds. This paired with the reappearance of symbols in his putatively abstract earthworks show that Smithson is more fascinating than anyone realized for reasons that no one knew until Inside the Spiral.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Classical Music | Works by Beethoven and More for Violin, Viola, and Cello


Momenta Quartet (Emilie-Anne Gendron, violin; Alex Shiozaki, violin; Stephanie Griffin, viola; Michael Haas, cello). Program Ysaye (1858-1951), Sonata No. 2 Ileana Perez Velazquez (b. 1964), River of Life Somei Satoh (b. 1947), A White Heron Beethoven (1770-1827), String Quartet Op. 18 No. 6
   New York City, NY; NYC
7:00 pm
Free

Talk | Writing Time, or, Thoughts on a Book About Disappearance That Stayed Around


In 1993, the field of performance studies was shaken by the publication of Peggy Phelan’s Unmarked: the politics of performance. Bridging feminist theory and psychoanalysis, deconstruction and art history, Phelan’s book confronted issues that had confounded performance theory until then -- particularly the relation between visibility, embodiment, disappearance and feminism and how these might inform the political-aesthetic (non)value of body art. Written during the raging Culture Wars of the late 1980s early 1990s, in the midst of the AIDS pandemic, during the consolidation of Neo-liberalism as the putative "only option” for organizing societal life, Unmarked shifted the field of performance studies towards a direct engagement with questions of survival and resilience, of disappearance and presence, of representation and reproduction in ways that, for Phelan, constituted the outlines of a feminist political ontology of performance.  On the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the book’s publication, Professor Peggy Phelan (Stanford University) joins PS faculty André Lepecki for a conversation on the book’s many afterlives. After thirty years, what lingers today from this book about disappearance? The current global attacks on trans and queer identities, African-American history, and reproductive freedom return us to some of the same issues Phelan explored. What new lessons can be drawn from the book’s analyses? This event will be an occasion to both celebrate Phelan’s book and also to collectively ask questions about the (non)time of performance (studies) and its (non)value for a minoritarian politics of performance.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:00 pm
Free

Concert | Adventurous Lebanese Pianist Premieres New Work


Considered "a musician of extreme caliber and pure expression" by the Daily Star UK, the adventurous Lebanese pianist Rami Khalifé presents work that is as eclectic as it is bold, ranging from improvised concerts, original film soundtracks, reimagined electronic club music with his AUFGANG project, and live tours with his father, the famed composer and oud player Marcel Khalifé. Rami's musical perambulations have led him to classical training at Juilliard; solos with Globalis Orchestra, the Qatar Philharmonic, the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and The Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia; live performances at the Kennedy Center, the Sydney Opera House, and Queen Elizabeth Hall; and over a half dozen albums. Khalifé will premiere his latest work, LOST, Return to Beirut, at the David Rubenstein Atrium. The return of Rami Khalifé to his homeland, Lebanon, is a rediscovery of his country that he painfully left as a child because of the war, a scar of the exodus that has never healed. Return to Beirut is the work of painter, photographer, and director François Rousseau and augmented by the photography of Lebanese war photojournalist Jamal Saidi.
   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Free

Classical Music | Piano Recital


   New York City, NY; NYC
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7:30 pm
Free

Comedy Club | Bomb Shelter Comedy Show


Bomb Shelter is a free weekly comedy show in New York City where you'll find some of the best comedians performing. Expect free pizza. With: Isabel Hagen - Comedy Central, Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Raj Suresh - Break The Leg Comedy Special  Amba Walka - Bloomroom Comedy Joon Chung - Staten Island Comedy Festival 
   New York City, NY; NYC
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8:00 pm
Free
Complimentary Tickets

to shows, concerts ... (CFT Deals!)

Musical | Broadway Actors in a Musical by a Prominent NYC Company

Regular Price: $50
CFT Member Price: $0.00

Performance | Holiday Burlesque Show!

Regular Price: $115
CFT Member Price: $0.00
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