If you have ideas about shows you’d like to see presented in Houston
or would like to participate in community discussions, please call or email our
office.
VBB’s Second Decade: 2010-11
“VBB is so diverse…. Most organizations concentrate on a single objective. But VBB is different. It concentrates on what it can contribute to the community. It’s a showcase for young and old talent, and it is a political forum. I will always be involved with VBB.”
–Bapsi Sidhwa, author of six novels Cracking India and The Crow-Eaters.
Voices Breaking Boundaries (VBB) continues to ride on the excitement from our first Decade of Dissent (2000-2010). In our upcoming season, the first year in our second decade, we will produce two trademark living room art shows juxtaposing joys and struggles in different neighborhoods around Houston and parallel them with similar themes in Pakistan. The shows will open out residential homes as art galleries and give community members an opportunity to enjoy photographs, video, installation art, and experimental work as part of an eye opening cumminity experience. In addition, as part of our tradition of giving voice to marginalized communities, VBB will host open mic opportunities at our East End Live Art productions. Toward the end of its season, VBB will participate in the Art Car Parade and as always, VBB’s season will contain surprises, so stay connected to our website. We are in the process of finalizing our 2010-11 season. Do mark your calendar for the first two events of the year, and stay connected to our website, facebook and email list to learn about our spring season.
VBB will continue to cosponsor events presented by other organizations whose work matches the VBB mission: to cross borders, sustain dialogue, and incite social justice through art.
To get regular updates about our shows please join our email list.
Fall 2010
a vbb special fundraiser
Art for Flood Relief
5 - 7:30pm, Sunday, September 19, 2010 Eldorado Ballroom (Project Row Houses Campus), 2310 Elgin, Houston, TX 77004 $ pay what you can; 100 % of proceeds will go toward flood relief efforts in Pakistan
All through the month of August, Pakistan’s River Indus experienced heavy flooding causing more than 1,500 deaths and the displacement of nearly 20 million people along the 800 mile-long riverbank. Even once the water recedes, people in Pakistan will continue to struggle to deal with the heavy loss of lives, agriculture, infrastructure, and growing illnesses. To provide some relief to the community, VBB will collaborate with organizations around Houston to raise funds towards flood relief efforts in Pakistan. The fundraiser evening, aimed at raising awareness about the situation in Pakistan, will feature musical and informative videos directly from Pakistan, including video appearances by Pakistani journalists, community organizers and artists such as LAAL, a Pakistani band who just released a new song in honor of those affected by the floods. DJ AV will be spinning the discs and videos, and the Pakistani Consul General will be available to answer questions. As always, VBB will serve food, drinks and there will be an opportunity to mix, mingle and gain more information about the situation in Pakistan. All funds from the evening will go toward two Pakistani non-profits, Karachi Relief Trust and Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation. Please join us! (If you cannot attend, but would like to still donate, please send a check to VBB–and clearly mark "For Flood Relief").
VBB is an organization that has long recognized and learned from individuals who have taken risks by speaking out. This fall, VBB’s season will kick off with Women’s Voices, a new production from our much-loved living room art series that will take place in a historical 1888 Houston home located in Sixth Ward, just around the corner from the Multicultural Education and Counseling Center for the Arts (MECA). The show will recognize the services provided by the arts center and the leadership role played by MECA’s Founding Director and latina icon, Alice Valdez, who has given voice to many Houston artists including Gwen Zepeda and Vanessa Cerda, who will both perform at the event. Like all VBB living room art productions, Women’s Voices will parallel issues of Houston neighborhoods with those in Pakistan. This year, the production will shed light on art and community activism in Pakistan through a documentary by Sheherzad Kaleem about a grassroots Karachi-based arts organization, Tehrik-e-Niswan, led by dancer/actress Sheema Kirmani. Included in the production will be a documentary by Aisha Gazdar about Pakistan’s Women’s Action Forum, a protest group that grew during the 1980s while Pakistan was run under the US supported right-wing military dictatorship of General Zia. The evening will feature installations by Sehba Sarwar and Yunuen Perez Vertti. Also part of the experience will be an open mic and altar, so all are encouraged to bring words and share altar art. As always, there will be music, food, drinks, and surprises. Please join us!
VBB celebrated its 10-Year Anniversary in 2009-10!
VBB is a multidisciplinary arts organization. Our mission is to
cross borders, sustain dialogue, and incite social justice through art.
