The series, put on by the Guggenheim, is like any other day walking around Jackson Heights or sitting with friends in their apartment, except, well... you don’t know these people and at each location there’s an author or actor waiting with a story in mind to tell you.
Stillspotting NYC is a two-year-long project that takes museum-goers with a map in hand to city streets. They will hear stories from writers including poets, professors, a chaplain and a pair of rappers.
For this edition of Stillspotting NYC: Queens, called Transhistoria, the architects at New York-based Solid Objectives–Idenburg Liu — that found locations and writers for the event — bring visitors to Jackson Heights.
Ticket holders take two-hour self-guided tours starting from the Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Ave. transit hub on 75th Street and Broadway.
Guests choose four of six locations to visit on their tour.
A family program will be offered May 5 from 12 to 3p.m. with a story written for the little ones and adults alike. Visit the project’s website for more information.
Stillspotting participant Roger Sedarat said writers were prompted by the questions: “How do New Yorkers escape the intensity of the city? We are interested in a story about transition and making a place in one’s home through language,” and “What connection does this story have to the ideas of stillness and quiet?”
A “stillspot” was different for each author, but in his or her own way it’s a place in which each felt calm with a sense of belonging.
And it’s not always easy to find moments of still in a neighborhood with a lack of green space, pointed out poet and participant Maria Terrone. Jackson Heights is also one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in city, according to the Guggenheim.
“A place where ‘peace and quiet’ is elusive and ever more precious when it’s found,” as excerpted from Terrone’s piece.
Three of the Stillspotting authors — Sedarat, Terrone and Premilla Nadasen — work at Queens College and in some way or another speak about food as an example of culture or a unifier in this diverse neighborhood.
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Stillspotting’
When: April 28–29, and May 5–6, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Where: Walking tours start at Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Ave. transit hub
Tickets: $10, cash only
stillspotting.guggenheim.org
