‘Architecture of the Overflow’ With Emily Johnson at The Church

Have a seat on one of the many quilts that will be laid out in the main floor of The Church and join Emily Johnson on Sunday, May 4, at 3 p.m. as she weaves visitors into a movement-and sound-based performance that will envelop them in shared histories and experiences. The event is offered in conjunction with “Eternal Testament,” an exhibition which highlights works by Indigenous artists from across the country, which is curated by Jeremy Dennis and Meranda Roberts.

A portal to a way forward through care and awareness, Johnson’s performance invites participants to redefine themselves within space-time and join her in an act of “reworlding,” and to physically stitch together a work of art. Assisted by Korina Emmerich, Johnson invites audiences to contribute to the quilt squares, through stitching and/or adding their visions for the future. Though most participants will be seated on the ground on quilts provided, there will be chairs available for those who prefer or need them.

A location-specific work, Johnson’s performance helps revitalize integral connections to one another and awaken participants to the threads that connect us via environments, stories, and pasts, presents and futures.

Emily Johnson makes body-based work and belongs to the Yup’ik Nation and is a land and water protector and an organizer for justice, sovereignty and well-being. A Bessie award-winning choreographer, Guggenheim Fellow, and recipient of the Doris Duke Artist Award, she is based in Lenapehoking (New York City) and Haudenosaunee lands. Since 1998, Johnson’s large-scale performance gatherings encourage thrivance, radical reworlding and just futures. Her gatherings function as portals and care processions, engaging audienceships within and through space, time, environment — interacting with a place’s architecture, peoples, histories, and role-building futures. She is trying to make a world where performance is part of life.

Tickets for the event are $25 ($20 members) at thechurchsagharbor.org. The Church is at 48 Madison Street in Sag Harbor.