Wednesday, September 23rd at 8pm (Doors 7:30pm), ISSUE presents an evening of performance and conversation in partnership with Franklin Furnace as part of their 50th anniversary commemoration and November release of Back to the Present: 50 Years of Free Expression with Franklin Furnace, edited by founder and pioneering artist, Martha Wilson.
Held at ISSUE’s 22 Boerum Pl. theater during the 2026 Brooklyn Book Festival, the program reflects the two organizations’ commitments to experimental practice and freedom of expression, while celebrating their respective anniversary seasons.
The evening extends that dialogue into the present, and features a new collaborative performance by Jean Carla Rodea (2023 ISSUE AIR) and 2020 Franklin Furnace FUND alumn Arantxa Araujo, alongside a conversation between Wilson and “mediamystic maverick” Bradley Eros (1993 Franklin Furnace FUND alumn & 2007 ISSUE AIR) reflecting on live art and alternative cultural spaces across fifty years of interdisciplinary practice.
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THIS IS AN OFFICIAL 2026 BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT.
The Brooklyn Book Festival is New York City’s largest free literary festival and connects readers with local, national and international authors and publishers during the course of a celebratory literary week.
ISSUE Project Room is a pioneering nonprofit performance center, presenting projects by interdisciplinary artists that expand the boundaries of artistic practice and stimulate critical dialogue in the broader community. ISSUE serves as a leading cultural incubator, facilitating the commission and premiere of innovative new works.
ISSUE Project Room celebrates the 20th Anniversary of its Artists-In-Residence (AIR) program throughout 2026 with performances by current residents and returning alumni. This anniversary season highlights AIRs whose work reflects the ongoing evolution of a much broader community of experimental artists who have helped shape ISSUE for over twenty years.
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ISSUE Project Room programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
