ROLEX AND BAM TO PRESENT THE MULTIDISCIPLINARY ROLEX ARTS WEEKEND
9 AND 10 SEPTEMBER, 2022

TWO-DAY FESTIVAL ORGANIZED BY ROLEX INVITES THE PUBLIC TO HEAR SPIKE LEE, PHYLLIDA LLOYD, LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA AND CARRIE MAE WEEMS IN CONVERSATION AND ATTEND THE PREMIERES OF NEW WORK BY THEIR PROTÉGÉS KYLE BELL, WHITNEY WHITE, AGUSTINA SAN MARTÍN AND CAMILA RODRÍGUEZ TRIANA

Geneva, 30 June, 2022 – On 9 and 10 September, the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative and BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), a leading multi-arts centre for adventurous artists, audiences and ideas, will co-present the Rolex Arts Weekend. The two days of public conversations, performances and installations will feature world-renowned artists Spike Lee, Phyllida Lloyd, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Carrie Mae Weems and their protégés – outstanding younger artists who have been engaged with these mentors in two years of creative collaboration.

The multidisciplinary arts festival, presented on the BAM campus, will celebrate the completion of the latest cycle of the Rolex Arts Initiative, which pairs highly gifted young artists from around the world with great figures in their field, prompting a dialogue across generations, cultures and disciplines and ensuring that the world’s artistic heritage is passed on personally, from artist to artist. Since the Rolex Arts Initiative was established in 2002, it has created an unparalleled international community of 58 mentors and 58 protégés.

At the Rolex Arts Weekend, the public will gain insight into the close artistic relationships that have formed during the cycle, while being invited to see presentations of new work:

KYLE BELL
MENTORED BY SPIKE LEE
Screenings of new work
In a special screening, Kyle Bell will present short films reflecting upon experiences in the Native American community, including his recently finished documentary Lakota, which profiles a young woman grappling with mental health issues in her family. The presentation will also feature other work in development, as well as a conversation between Bell and Spike Lee focusing on common themes in their storytelling.

WHITNEY WHITE
MENTORED BY PHYLLIDA LLOYD
World Premiere The Case of the Stranger
Created in the vein of Whitney White’s Macbeth in Stride (commissioned by American Repertory Theater as the first in a series of works), this staged concert combines Shakespeare’s words with White’s original text and music. The title, taken from a passage attributed to Shakespeare, is one of the earliest known and most impassioned defences of a compassionate refugee policy. The performance explores themes of immigration, borders and crossings and the celebration that unexpected human connections can ultimately bring. The presentation will include a conversation between Whitney White and Phyllida Lloyd.

CAMILA RODRÍGUEZ TRIANA
MENTORED BY CARRIE MAE WEEMS
First US Solo Exhibition Mestiza Heritage
Rodríguez Triana’s new mixed-media work explores her identity as a Mestiza woman from Colombia: a heritage she received through her physical appearance but that was never taught to her and went unacknowledged among the white, Black, and Indigenous communities that did not recognize her as their own. Reappropriating elements of her denied heritage, Rodríguez Triana reconstructs the ancestral Andean cosmology of the Uka Pacha (where ancestors live), the Kay Pacha (or transitory world between birth and death), and the Hanan Pacha (or spiritual world of gods and animated nature). The exhibition opening will include a conversation between Camila Rodríguez Triana and Carrie Mae Weems.

AGUSTINA SAN MARTIN
MENTORED BY LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA
World Premiere Untitled
A novel hybrid of documentary film and magical apparition, Agustina San Martín’s new work began with interviews the artist conducted with colleagues, strangers and her Rolex mentor, in which she asked about the memories evoked by favourite songs. The images she recorded are projected onto clouds hovering in the darkened space and are combined with an original score, making up a cross-section of humanity and a reflection on our common yet ineffable experience of music. The presentation will include a conversation between Agustina San Martín and Lin-Manuel Miranda. 

Highlighting the Rolex Arts Weekend will be a moderated discussion among Spike Lee, Phyllida Lloyd, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Carrie Mae Weems, titled “From Generation to Generation”, on the experience of mentorship in the arts.

Rebecca Irvin, head of the Rolex Arts Initiative, said, “After several years of holding the Rolex Arts Weekend in great artistic centres from Mexico City to Berlin to Cape Town, we are delighted to return this year to New York, where the programme was first presented to the public. Many of our mentors and protégés in this cycle have deep connections to New York City and to Brooklyn.”

The mentors and protégés were originally announced in February 2020, just before the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. Rolex extended the mentorships for more than a year to allow the pairs to develop their relationships and meet as much as possible when travel was allowed.

“Just as the pandemic changed the ways we worked, so too did it impact the way our mentors and protégés were able to connect. We are pleased that these marvellously inventive pairs found innovative ways to have vibrant creative exchanges. We are very proud of the connections that they have forged with each other,” said Irvin.

David Binder, Artistic Director of BAM, said, “We’re thrilled to join with the Rolex Arts Initiative as co-presenter of this dazzling weekend, where we will welcome a truly world-class roster of artists to our venues. Innovation, multidisciplinary creativity and forward thinking are among the hallmarks of BAM, and these are precisely the qualities that our public will discover at the Rolex Arts Weekend.”

A full list of events and ticket details for the Arts Weekend will be announced later this summer.

For more details about the Rolex Arts Initiative and the current mentor-protégé pairs, please visit rolex.org/rolex-mentor-protégé

For a Backgrounder about the programme, please go to newsroom.rolex.com

ABOUT ROLEX
AN UNRIVALLED REPUTATION FOR QUALITY AND EXPERTISE
Rolex is an integrated and independent Swiss watch manufacture. Headquartered in Geneva, the brand is recognized the world over for its expertise and the quality of its products – symbols of excellence, elegance and prestige. The movements of its Oyster Perpetual and Cellini watches are certified by COSC, then tested in-house for their precision, performance and reliability. The Superlative Chronometer certification, symbolized by the green seal, confirms that each watch has successfully undergone tests conducted by Rolex in its own laboratories according to its own criteria. These are periodically validated by an independent external 
organization.

The word ‘Perpetual’ is inscribed on every Rolex Oyster watch. But more than just a word on a dial, it is a philosophy that embodies the company’s vision and values. Hans Wilsdorf, the founder of the company, instilled a notion of perpetual excellence that would drive the company forward. This led Rolex to pioneer the development of the wristwatch and numerous major watchmaking innovations, such as the Oyster, the first waterproof wristwatch, launched in 1926, and the Perpetual rotor self-winding mechanism, invented in 1931. In the course of its history, Rolex has registered over 500 patents. At its four sites in Switzerland, the brand designs, develops and produces the majority of its watch components, from the casting of the gold alloys to the machining, crafting, assembly and finishing of the movement, case, dial and bracelet. Furthermore, the brand is actively involved in supporting the arts and culture, sport and exploration, as well as those who are devising solutions to preserve the planet.

ABOUT BAM
Brooklyn Academy of Music’s (BAM’s) mission is to be a home for adventurous artists, audiences, and ideas. America’s oldest performing arts institution, it is recognized internationally for innovative dance, music, and theater programming –including its renowned Next Wave Festival. BAM also features an acclaimed repertory film program, literary and visual art events, and extensive educational and humanities programs.