ASU Gammage Beyond Series

“¡azúcar!”

Contra-Tiempo’s ¡AZÚCAR! is a courageous naming/confrontation of an intentional obliteration of the undercurrent and often unspoken anti-Blackness in latinidad. Questions are continuing to drive the process as we begin to understand the complicated history of sugar and the messages from our ancestors. What does it feel like to individually and collectively heal, what does it move like? 20 brilliant artists and collaborators take audiences through a journey of Celia Cruz’s vibrations, unearthing history embedded in our bodies. Through ¡AZÚCAR!, we explore ancestral wisdoms about a plant that once aided in our healing, used as a way to sweeten medicinal concoctions, now extracted, refined and used as weaponized poison. This courageous work is rooted in and inspired by the sacred feminine, personal narratives of food, labor, community, sabor and explorations of ‘familying’ and healing as practices.

Master Artist and Afro-Cuban practitioner, Kati Hernandez, is a core collaborator and guest performer in the work.