Page 7 - APAP - Inside Arts - Summer 2020

FROM THE PRESIDENT
Afro-Cuban All Stars
in early June. As APAP itself continues to prepare, plan and adjust, we will keep you posted
on all developments, including
the conference, which will take place in some form in January 2021. Will we meet online? Most certainly. Will there be an in-person convening in New York City for a small group to safely gather? We are actively exploring this.
Confronting the racist legacy of America’s culture and institutions— and those of much of the Western world—is part of our work. We
aspire to create cultural spaces free
of inequity and violence. And we
are inspired that the world is finally listening to Black Lives Matter and the many voices and movements
that are aligned with it and that came before it. I am heartened by
the power of our imaginations in our organizations and field. As artists and arts workers, it is in our DNA to shift culture. We can do this.
Lastly, we know the pandemic has been devastating to the performing arts. APAP members, board, staff—none of us are exempt from its effects, and every one of us is consumed with how to respond, recover and rebuild. We want you to know that you are not alone, that we are here for you, and that we are stronger together.
By the time you read this, I will have handed the reins over to Lisa. I am grateful for the years I had at APAP and am excited to see what’s to come, and we all look forward to seeing you face-to-face as soon as it is possible.
Mario Garcia Durham, PRESIDENT & CEO
DakhaBrakha
First of all, I hope you are safe and well.
If you were to ask me four months ago, I would
not have guessed that I would
be crafting this letter to you, our members, at a time when I had planned to start work in a new capacity in the arts community. With the upheaval of the pandemic and the exciting shift in executive leadership at APAP, stability and continuity became key. It has
been a privilege to stay onboard
a while longer during these very challenging times.
But before I write another word, I want to welcome Lisa Richards Toney, our new president and CEO at APAP, as of July 1, 2020. As would any leader in this time, Lisa has her work cut out for her, but I’m confident in her leadership. You can read more about her on page 29, but please join me in making her feel at home at APAP.
Our future together is too uncertain to predict, yet at the same time, it is ours to map. Recognizing that “business as usual” is a thing
of the past, we are imagining what could be, as illustrated in the many field-wide conversations APAP
has hosted and will continue to host, most recently the APAP BREAK/ROOM conversations
Paris Combo
• Aditya Prakash Ensemble
• Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino • Dakh Daughters
• Goitse
• Hermeto Pascoal
• Huun Huur Tu
• Karsh Kale
• Lenine
• Nitin Sawhney
• Oumou Sangare
• San Salvador
• Souad Massi
• The Manganiyar Seduction
riotartists.com

(650) 595.2274
San Salvador
SUMMER 2020 INSIDE ARTS 5
ADAM KISSICK/APAP