By MONTE LASTER
Our Better Angels (OBA), 2009-2015
Co-produced by Face and Muriel Quancard
Conceived by artist Monte Laster, the project Our Better Angels (OBA) was a dynamic process based on the premise that art and creativity could be catalysts for urban development. OBA implemented unique programs that reached various audiences, stimulated public dialogue and inspired action to make change.
Diverse groups of participants, including visual artists, curators, musicians, artists, poets, rappers, community members, scholars, students and professors from France and the United States worked together to leverage local creative assets.
The project, founded by Artist Monte Laster and curated by Muriel Quancard, took place between 2009 and 2015, and had successful implementations in France, Washington D.C and New York City (Harlem, Bronx, Brooklyn), Dallas and Houston.
Photograph by Joanna MacLennan
About Monte Laster
About FACE
By MONTE LASTER
Our Better Angels (OBA), 2009-2015
Co-produced by Face and Muriel Quancard
In September 2009, a group of ten young French rappers of African origin participated in a series of workshops at the Moulin Fayvon, FACE's headquarter in the heart of a project housing in La Courneuve.
They studied with urban planners, architects, landscape architects, photographers, and videographers to learn film and other documentary techniques. Within this framework they realized several projects including First Personal, a 15-minute video portrait of their neighborhood.
In February 2010, the group traveled to Harlem, New York, and Washington, D. C., where they gave concerts, participated in workshops, and presented First Personal at cultural institutions, schools, and universities. This exchange between the French rappers and the American residents, associations, and institutions lead the group all the way to the White House.
Photograph by Joanna MacLennan.
By MONTE LASTER
Our Better Angels (OBA), 2009-2015
Co-produced by Face and Muriel Quancard
Responding to the success of First Personal, a group of teenage artists, musicians, poets, and slammers called The Family of Poets was formed in Harlem in September 2010. Over a period of 18 months, the Family organized writing workshops, performances, and concerts across the city.
Under the guidance of Monte Laster, educator, poet and rapper, Mikal Amin Lee, lead workshops and provided artistic direction. Abiodun Oyewole of the seminal group, The Last Poets, one of hip-hop’s founding fathers, acted as mentor.
In April 2012, the Family of Poets traveled to Paris, where its young members performed in cultural institutions such as the Louvre Museum and the Palais de Tokyo, Europe’s largest contemporary art center. They also collaborated with schools and not-for-profit organizations in La Courneuve, a community that has much in common with Harlem.
Photograph by Joanna MacLennan.
By MONTE LASTER
Our Better Angels (OBA), 2009-2015
Co-produced by Face and Muriel Quancard
This third and final phase of OBA was designed as a set of consciousness-raising think-tanks, musical encounters, urban walks, and, writing and photography workshops.
These projects resulted in a body of work in the form of a symbolic mirror, one that reflected on minorities and emigrants’ redemptive and resilient culture contextualized by an ongoing struggle for equality.
Networks and exchanges established during the first two phases of OBA, between the suburbs of New York and Paris were strengthened and expanded. OBA III addressed a wider audience than the first two parts, including not only its original territory, the City of La Courneuve, but also the cities of Houston and Dallas.
Photograph by Muriel Quancard.
Conceived by Monte Laster
December 6, 2015
Co-produced by Face, TFAA and Muriel Quancard
Rothko Chapel, Houston
Hosted by Rothko Chapel, in collaboration with FACE, (French American Creative Exchange), TFAA (Texan-French Alliance for the Arts) and Muriel Quancard, this think-tank round table explored the dynamic interaction between contemporary art and cultural identity within the framework of urban revitalization in both French and American cultures.
Its goal was to envision potential actions and conceive a methodology for contextual and participatory interventions in the United States and France, aimed at developing intercultural models.
Illustration by Monte Laster.