Performa is a non-profit arts organization well known for the Performa Biennial, a festival of performance art that happens in various venues and institutions in New York city every other year. Performa was founded by RoseLee Goldberg, historian and curator of contemporary performance art. The organization also commissions new works, tours performances premiered at the biennial, and manages the work of choreographer and filmmaker, Yvonne Rainer.
Performa Biennial
In 2005 Performa hosted the first Performa Biennial, a series of performance events at venues and institutions across New York City. Founding curator and editor, RoseLee Goldberg is quoted as saying her objective in creating the festival was "to produce new work that I'd never seen before and have the miracle of working with artists who would make things of wonder. The second was to deal with this history." The festival presents new works by artists working in performance, first performance works by artists working in other mediums, and re-staging of seminal performance works from history. For the 2005 Biennial the Solomon R. Guggenheim presented Marina Abramović's Seven Easy Pieces, in which Abramović re-performed several works from the canon of early performance works, including two of her own. Performances included works by Gina Pane, Vito Acconci, Valie Export, Bruce Nauman, and Joseph Beuys. Other featured artists included Shirin Neshat, Clifford Owens, Jesper Just, Tamy Ben-Tor, Francis Alÿs, Laurie Simmons, Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz, Coco Fusco, and Christin Marclay.
Performa 05 Commissions
Francis Alÿs: Rehearsal II at The Slipper Room, 2005 at 167 Orchard Street at Stanton Street Performa Radio, 2005, on WFMU and WKCR
Performa 07 Commissions
, Japanther in , 2007 at Performance Space 122 Nathalie Djurberg, Untitled , 2007 at the Zipper Theater Carlos Amorales, Spider Galaxy, 2007 at 590 Madison Avenue Sanford Biggers, The Somethin' Suite, 2007 at The Box Isaac Julien & Russell Maliphant, Cast No Shadow, 2007 at BAM Harvey Theater Daria Martin, Harpstrings & Lava, 2007 at Tribeca Grand Hotel Screening Room Kelly Nipper, Floyd on the Floor, 2007 at Judson Memorial Church Adam Pendleton, The Revival, 2007 at Stephan Weiss Studio Yvonne Rainer, RoS Indexical, 2007 at The Hudson Theatre at Millennium Broadway Hotel Francesco Vezzoli, Cosi’ e Right You Are , 2007 at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Performa 11 Commissions
, Happy Days in the Art World, 2011 at Skirball Center for the Performing Arts Mika Rottenberg and Jon Kessler, Seven, 2011 Frances Stark, Put a Song in Your Thing, 2011 at Abrons Art Center Gerard Byrne, In Repertory, 2011 at Abrons Art Center Tarek Atoui, Visiting Tarab, 2011 at SIR Stage Simon Fujiwara, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, 2011 at Abrons Art Center Ming Wong, Persona Performa, 2011 at Museum of the Moving Image Shirin Neshat, OverRuled, 2011 at Cedar Lake Laurel Nakadate and James Franco, Three Performances in Search of Tennessee, 2011 at Abrons Art Center Liz Magic Laser, I Feel Your Pain, 2011 at SVA Theater Iona Rozeal Brown, battle of yestermore, 2011 at Skylight West Guy Maddin, Tales from the Gimli Hospital: Reframed, 2011 at Walter Reade Theater Ragnar Kjartansson, Bliss, 2011 at Abrons Art Center
Performa 13 Commissions
, Biba Performa, 2013, and Queen Mother of Reality Inauguration, 2013 at Socrates Sculpture Park Rashid Johnson, Dutchman, 2013 at 10th Street Bath House, 268 East 10th Street Ryan McNamara, MEƎM: A STORY BALLET ABOUT THE INTERNET, 2013 at Connelly Theater Subodh Gupta, Celebration, 2013 at The Old Bowery Station, 168 Bowery Florian Heckter, C.D. – A Script for Synthesis, 2013 at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Alexandre Singh, The Humans, 2013 at BAM Fisher Rosa Barba, Subconscious Society- LIve, 2013 at Anthology Film Archives, 32 2nd Avenue Eddie Peake, Endymion, 2013 at Swiss Institute Shana Lutker, The Nose, The Cane, The Broken Left Arm, 2013 at Theatre 80, 80 St Marks Place Marianne Vitale, The MIssing Book of Spurs, 2013 at 5-01 46th Road, Long Island City Raqs Media Collective, The Last International, 2013 at Connelly Theater Tori Wrånes, Yes Nix, 2013 at SIR Stage 37, 508 West 37th Street
Performa 15 Commissions
, Earnest Hawker, 2015 Francesco Vezzoli and David Hallberg, Fortuna Desperata, 2015 at St. Bart's Church, 325 Park Avenue Pauline Curnier Jardin, The Resurrection Plot, 2015 at Pioneer Works Wyatt Kahn, Work, 2015 at Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre Jérôme Bel, Ballet , 2015 at Marian Goodman Gallery; Martha Graham Studio Theater; and El Museo del Barrio Robin Rhode, Arnold Schönberg's Erwartung - A Performance by Robin Rhode, 2015 at Times Square Zheng Mahler, New York Post- et Préfiguratif , 2015 Erika Vogt, Artist Theater Program, 2015 at Roulette, 509 Atlantic Ave. Jesper Just and FOS, in the shadow/ of a spectacle/ is the view of the crowd, 2015 Juliana Huxtable, There Are Certain Facts that Cannot Be Disputed, 2015 at Museum of Modern Art Oscar Murillo, Lucky dip, 2015 at Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House Laura Lima, Gala Chickens and Ball, 2015 Agatha Gothe-Snape, Rhetorical Chorus , 2015 at New York Society for Ethical Culture Edgar Arceneaux,Until, Until, Until..., 2015
