Studio 170 | Residency

A Laboratory for Ideas

The Goethe-Institut Boston opens its unique, flexible space in Back Bay to artists and creative minds as a “laboratory” for ideas.

Beyond just another gallery or concert hall, Studio 170 provides artists and audiences with an open, lively place for inspiration, experimentation, and open discourse in the heart of Boston.  With this new format, the Goethe-Institut Boston invites New England artists from all fields of artistic practice to use our newly-renovated space to experiment, innovate, and connect with our international community. 

Studio 170 was established in 2019 to open the Goethe-Institut Boston’s unique, flexible space to New England artists from all fields of artistic practice as a “laboratory” for ideas. A jury made up of curators and cultural advocates from New England selects a new cohort of artists per year from received applications.  Since its founding, eight artists and artist collaboratives have developed projects within 2-week residencies. The plan is to expand the program to promote transatlantic dialogue and exchange between artists through solo and joint residencies in New England and Germany. 

DZIDZOR AZAGLO & STEPH DAVIS: EVERY TONGUE CONFESS : A RITUAL ON REMEMBERING

September 6-8, 2024

An evening-length performance inspired by Zora Neal Hurtson folktales. Our performance imagines space as a container for a sound collage, memory, and healing. Layering poetry, proverbs, prayers, the sound of the marimba, and oral histories, the performance will express “how it feels to be here on earth or leaving” (Hurston, 2001).

We are Steph Davis, marimbist, composer, Africana studies scholar, and cultural activist, and Dzidzor Azaglo (pronounced Jee-Joh), a Ga-Ewe folklore performing artist who creates immersive experiences that grounds the audience in their own bodies.
September 6th
6:00-9:30 PM Installation Viewing (Soft Opening)

September 7th
Installation is open, exact times TBA
7:00 - 8:00 PM Performance
8:00-8:30 PM Q+A
8:30-9:00 PM Light Reception

September 8th
10:00-11:00 AM Meditation
11:00-2:30 PM Installation Viewing
2:30 - 3:30 PM Panel Discussion