Since 2002, the Downtown Urban Arts Festival (DUAF) has been an outlet for culturally diverse artists from around the country. It has provided a platform for them to voice their unique perspectives concerning varying societal issues. One of the aims of the festival, as stated in its mission statement, is to “cultivate new urban audiences by making theater more affordable and accessible.”
On March 4th, the DUAF kicked off at Joe’s Pub with a one-night only performance by Corey Glover, lead singer of the band Living Colour. Since then, the festival has presented a pair of solo performances by Joe Gulla (“The Bronx Queen”) and Ella Turenne (“Love Locs, and Liberation”) along with a poetry slam at the city’s highly praised spoken word haven, the Nuyorican Poets Café.
The DUAF is currently focusing on its theater portion, which began on March 22nd and has already featured shows by Paul Cosma-Cimpoieru (“Homo Americanus”) and Jennifer Cendana Armas (“Twist & A Bridge”). The DUAF’s theater segment will continue until April 2nd, featuring 14 other performances at the HERE Arts Center.The festival will conclude with a 3- day showing of various films at the Tribeca Film Center beginning on Thursday April 7th.
Information regarding ticket prices and show times can be found on the festival’s website.
-by James Baginski
