BLACK POWER NAPS 

Performance Space New York   -   January 2019





In our society, relaxation and rest are luxuries reserved for the privileged and rich. Recent studies have shown that the distribution of rest is determined by race, with people of color regularly getting less sleep than white people. Navild Acosta and Fannie Sosa’s Black Power Naps is a direct response to the Sleep Gap, which the artists see as a continued form of state sanctioned punishment born from the ongoing legacy of slavery. Reclaiming idleness and play as sources of power and strength, this installation takes over Performance Space’s large theater and invites people of color to break with constant fatigue by slowing down, resting, and interacting with soft, comfortable surfaces.





Divided into themed stations, the interactive installation has six different approaches and surfaces for the restful body: the Black Power Base, the Atlantic Reconciliation Station, the Oxygenation Swing, the Pelvic Floor and the Black Bean Bed.

Read more about the New York iteration here.