HBO took over Brooklyn’s Union Hall for a second night (May 17th) hosting Speakeasy451 in honor of the upcoming premiere of the network’s Fahrenheit 451.
The event drew from themes from the film, focusing on art, literature, culture, and activism. Guests who attended included: Artist Andres Serrano, dancer/musician Arnstar, designer Arpana, model Jimmy Levar, model/activist Jillian Mercado, artist Ria, art critic Jiajia Fei, art curator Che Morales, photographer Aton Crowley, artist Stephen Ostrowski, fashion influencer Dele, artist Alexandra Bell, casting director Sarah Benjamin, stylist ShaRonda Edwards, and more.
Fahrenheit 451 which is adapted from Ray Bradbury’s novel of the same name, follows Guy Montag (Michael B. Jordan), the most popular fireman in his district, with a mandate to achieve happiness and social harmony by burning books, deleting and altering history, art, photos, and facts. “Natives,” or citizens, mainly stay home, getting anything they need from “Yuxie,” an advanced AI personal assistant that listens to and watches them at all times. “Eels” fight to save books, knowledge and culture. When firemen catch them, they punish Eels in public burnings, which are broadcast to the city; the Eels’ digital identities and histories are wiped clean and they are banished to Talay City, a poor slum with very little technologies.
The event featured a discussion between the evening’s host, art critic and writer Antwaun Sargent, who kicked off the night moderating a conversation with the artistic director of Alvin Ailey dance troupe, Robert Battle. After showing a short film about Alvin Ailey’s legendary African-American spiritual-inspired dance Revelations, Mr. Battle inspired the crowd with his thoughts on perseverance in the arts. “You can’t kill the arts, you cannot. Impossible. So this notion of the fact that we’re standing on shoulders I think really is at the heart of what art is all about. It says to us that you’ll be okay. I grew up in the church, I thought of spirituals as the artifacts of our survival as human beings, not just songs that made us happy, but songs that said somebody came before you right and that you’ll come before somebody all of that. So that’s really what motivates me,” said Battle during the chat about how art and song inspire him. After Battle’s discussion, the crowd enjoyed music from DJ Kenneth Kyrell as well as a spoken word poetry and song performance from Cyrus Aaron and his band which included a rendition of Nina Simone’s Four Women.
HBO will be hosting the final evening of Speakeasy 451 tonight, May 18th, featuring Kimberly Drew and Mykki Blanco, and the film Fahrenheit 451 will premiere on the network on Saturday, May 19th at 8 pm.
