Artist Laura Anderson Barbata, in collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies, presented “Intervention: Wall Street” on Friday, November 18, 2011. The performance took place on Wall Street in New York City’s Financial District at approximately 12 pm.
As part of the Moko Jumbies project, Anderson Barbata and the Brooklyn Jumbies towered over the Financial District in a performance that incorporated stilt dancers wearing 12ft high business suits, music and a collaborative spirit.
Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84E877vGkpc&feature=g-upl
“Intervention: Wall Street” was conceived as a response to the dire economic crisis that became most evident in 2008 and which today afflicts not only Americans but has impacted 99% of the global population. Financial speculation and banking abuses by the largest and most powerful institutions on Wall Street have brought misery to individuals, institutions and to entire countries. In this public performance, Laura Anderson Barbata and the Brooklyn Jumbies brought to the Financial District of New York a world-wide practice to remind viewers of the global impact of this crisis and the urgent need to elevate and change the values and practices of the New York Financial Industry.
In Western Africa, Moko is a spirit who watches over his village, and due to his towering height, is able to foresee danger and evil. In Africa, the Moko Jumbie (stilt dancer) is traditionally called in to cleanse and ward off evil spirits that have brought with them disease and misfortune to a village. On the other side of the Atlantic, in Oaxaca, Mexico, the Zancudos (stilt dancers) perform once a year to call upon the power of their saints to receive protection, blessings, and miracles. In the same spirit of warding off evil and seeking a change in the mindset of those causing misfortune, Laura Anderson Barbata and the Brooklyn Jumbies intervened on Wall Street.
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