Join Resident Alum Erin Johnson in this two-session workshop that explores how to expand your creative practice using the Center for Brooklyn History’s extensive archives and collections. In the first session, we delve into the many ways to enter the archive, locating materials but also locating archival silences. In the second session, we will collectively author research maps based on our findings.

Johnson will discuss their personal experiences sifting through the Center for Brooklyn History’s collections. Using the history of scientific imperialism and its remaining influence in Brooklyn as a case study, you will learn multiple entryways into the archives and their powerful content. These two sessions are an opportunity to gain valuable skills and insights while immersing yourself in Brooklyn's expansive and often untold histories.

Date: This two-time in-person workshop meets on Saturday February 24 and Sunday February 25 from 1-3pm at the Center for Brooklyn History (128 Pierrepont St, Brooklyn, NY 11201)

Price: Free with RSVP.

Audience: Open to all.

Materials: To be provided.

Erin Johnson’s short films and immersive installations interlace documentary, experimental, and narrative filmmaking devices to interrogate notions of collectivity, dissent, and queer identity. In her shape-shifting videos, site-specific performances by artists, biologists, and film extras address ongoing legacies of scientific research and nationalism.

Johnson received an MFA and Certificate in New Media from UC Berkeley in 2013, attended Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture in 2019 and recently completed residencies at Pioneer Works (Brooklyn, NY), Jan van Eyck Academie (Maastricht, NL), Lower Manhattan Community Council (LMCC), Hidrante (San Juan, PR), and Lighthouse Works (Fishers Island, NY). She is Chair of the Department of Film and Video at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Her work has recently been exhibited or screened at MOCA Toronto (Toronto), Munchmuseet (Oslo), Times Square Arts (New York), deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum (Boston), Billytown (The Hague), and Telfair Museums (Savannah).

Mapping the Archive is co-presented with Center for Brooklyn History.

For questions, please contact education@pioneerworks.org.

This program is supported in part by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.