Immersive is the perfect word for a major new exhibition about Brooklyn’s waterfront that opens January 20 at Brooklyn Historical Society DUMBO.
Exploring Brooklyn’s outsized impact on global trade and culture, and diving into the past, present, and future of the borough’s coastline, “Waterfront” is a multi-media exhibition that offers interwoven stories of workers, industries, activists, innovators, families, neighborhoods, and ecosystems.
Highlights include:
– A floor-to-ceiling sculpture of 80+ historic artifacts and fragments
– A 14-foot reproduction of an 1879 lithograph of Brooklyn’s waterfront
– An eight-minute film, “At Water’s Edge,” that shows ten epic historical moments stretching over 20,000 years
– “History in Motion,” special-effects technology that drops visitors into historic paintings and photographs and weaves their actions into a 60-second movie starring themselves
– “Rising Waters,” a touchscreen video installation that features historians, business owners, politicians, scientists, and activists who explore key questions about climate change and sea level rise
– Design your own waterfront neighborhood using magnets of buildings, bridges, animals, and landmarks on a ten-foot illustrated landscape
Workers and families are a central theme in the exhibition. “An Unfree Waterfront” highlights the moving stories of three enslaved Brooklynites and their struggle for freedom at the shoreline. “Brooklyn Bivalves” tells the story of oystermen and sewage. “Factory Women” offers the oral histories of female Navy Yard workers during World War II, with a dress-up experience for kids.
The first program associated with the exhibition, “Current/Bodies: Art and Action on The Waterfront,” takes place January 23 at 6:30pm, when artists and writers discuss the confluence of political, social, and environmental forces shaping New York City’s coastline. Featuring photographer Chester Higgins, visual artists Barry Rosenthal, Nancy Nowacek, and Francis Estrada, and poets Cynthia Manick and Wo Chan, the discussion was organized with Underwater New York.
BHS DUMBO (55 Water Street, Brooklyn) is the Brooklyn Historical Society’s second location. Opened in 2017, the space is housed inside Empire Stores, a renovated 19th-century warehouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park. “Waterfront” at BHS DUMBO will be open to the public Tuesday to Thursday, 11 am to 6 pm; Friday and Saturday, 11 am to 8 pm; and Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm. Suggested admission is $10 for adults, $6 for seniors and teachers, and free for members and students of all ages.
