Powerhouse Arts — Local services in New York

Excellent space and programming, but attending the inaugural Powerhouse International show it was clearly badly organised.

On arrival it was obvious, arts organisations in this city have this weird obsession with forcing people to take the elevators when there are stairs right there (cordoned off, naturally) so everyone is crowding around waiting for slow elevators.

Next, everyone is crowding around upstairs waiting for doors to open because it's general admission. Why can't we join the 21st century and have reserved seating?

Speaking of, there is this ridiculous tiered system where people are given stickers and told to sit in specific sections, which was roundly ignored once it got busy.

This made me wonder why I bothered sitting in my section, since the rake is so bad if anyone taller than 5 9 is in front of you their head is in the way.

Finally, I get it's between Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope, you're going to get yuppies from Connecticut and their spoilt children, but audience behavior was terrible. Filming, loud talking, people getting up and down constantly - and no staff doing anything or even an announcement to turn off phones.

Mette Ingvartsen, great as usual. But they need to make some serious changes to make the shows enjoyable...

PHA poses as a ngo, when it’s very for profit. For a tour or over 5 people, with continued weeks to see the ceramics studio, they are wanting to fill their expensive two seats left. They have only two functioning single bathrooms for a full house of over 50 artists just on one department. The building used to be a “safe space” for qtpoc youth, and now is far of a financially viable nor haven for qtpoc artists. They’ll charge you for every aspect, your chair, shelf, usage, and we didn’t even get to studio access rentals. PHA is making room for the rapid gentrification in the surrounding area. I would recommend to support small businesses even in the neighborhood for affordable ceramics and related classes. Then to spend...

Powerhouse Arts is a very cool space in a converted factory. The main hall is massive, with raw, exposed brick walls covered in graffiti. The industrial feel is unique and made a perfect backdrop for William Kentridge’s work, Sibyl.

The piece uses the ancient myth of the Sibyls—prophetesses who were often ignored—to explore how the pursuit of power leads to a tragic end when warnings go unheeded. It fused Kentridge’s signature charcoal animation with powerful visuals, music, and dance. The result was inventive and powerful, and one of the best productions I’ve seen this year.

I’d recommend checking their website to see what’s on view before you go. This place is definitely...