About

Where cities and oceans meet. Presented in partnership with Wellcome, FLOODLINES is an evening of music, poetry, science, and conversation about what happens when waters rise and how cities heal. Ccoinciding with Climate Week NYC, we’ll convene by the Red Hook waterfront to turn our hearts and minds to all places where cities and oceans meet. Here, the flood is both a literal threat and a metaphor for social and infrastructural saturation. Staged in our historic brick-walled space that was once filled by Hurricane Sandy’s waters, this program asks: whose bodies bear such floods, and what does urban health look like in an age of extreme heat, heavier rains, and rising seas? Hosted by the acclaimed writer Hanif Abdurraqib, with music by Hurray for the Riff Raff and poetry from Eileen Myles, the night will feature curator and design theorist Paola Antonelli leading a conversation with leading scientists, filmmakers, architects, and activists, along with libations and installations in the garden and a DJ set by Madame Gandhi. It will unfold in Pioneer Works’ main hall alongside a multimedia exhibition by Tuomas A. Laitinen that asks us to engage the dreamworld of octopuses. Considering all creatures who depend on the ocean for life, we’ll join together to reflect on how human health, now more than ever, depends on evolving our cities’ relationship with the waterways around us. Interactive activations from FloodNet NYC, Genspace, Urban Ocean Lab, Resilient Red Hook, Collective Scope, Melting Metropolis, and Counseling Center Group of New York will take place before and after the program, offering hands-on ways to engage the science and stories at the evening’s heart.

Event Organizer