ELEVATE 2021 strives to reconnect audiences with public art throughout the city

Atlanta’s annual public arts festival ELEVATE is well underway, with a full calendar of October events in celebration of its theme, “Reopen, Reconnect, Reignite, Revival.” Among these is a collaboration between ELEVATE and France-Atlanta called “A Dance, Reunited.” The multimedia program takes place on Oct. 17th at the Atlanta Contemporary and explores the global art community’s struggle and resurgence through COVID-19. The evening will feature a film screening, a discussion panel, and a performance of a new dance work by Indya Childs called “Tokoliana.” Childs joined “City Lights” host Lois Reitzes along with Charmaine Minniefield, visual artist and Curator of ELEVATE 2021, to talk about “A Dance, Reunited,” and the personal and global story of resilience Childs’ piece tells.

Minniefield gave some context on the collaboration between French and Atlanta creators, a tradition begun by the French Consulate General of Atlanta and Georgia Tech. “The City of Atlanta has a long-standing partnership with France-Atlanta, and each year we’ve presented a work in collaboration with them,” said Minniefield. “This year, the project is a film that comes out of the dance experience out of West Africa, from the continent. And our filmmaker that is a part of the project will be with us, via broadcast from overseas.”

She added, “This project feels really right for ELEVATE as well, because it comes from the experience of dancers during quarantine, during the pandemic. And a lot of our work does that, the City of Atlanta is supporting. It highlights… ‘What was the result of our time within?’”