To bring Esto No Tiene Nombre to life, we worked with a team of creative artists and makers. Today on the blog, meet Nia Benjamin, the production designer for Esto No Tiene Nombre — and IJ’s very own Director of Creative Projects! While the live performance happened in June, you have one more chance to see the visual world Nia created on Friday, October 13 at the first screening of Esto No Tiene Nombre!
How did you come to Philadelphia, and why do you make the city your home?
I've lived in Philly for 11 years now. I moved here from West Palm Beach, FL in 2012 for college (I graduated from the University of the Arts). I've stayed in Philly because I believe Philly to be an artist's city, with an incredible legacy of contributions from artists of color. I think I'll continue to stay in Philly because of the people, because of the legacies of organizing, and because of the deep familial connections I have made with so many incredible people. I think Philly is a place for deep thinkers, deep feelers, and people who are in deep relationship with the communities they care about. Those are my kinds of people.
What caught your imagination about working on Esto No Tiene Nombre?
As a queer person, as a Black person, as a person born in the Caribbean, I have inherited so many forgotten histories. It takes a lot to remember these histories, and because not only are they purposefully hidden...but they often are not well documented. Conversations with elders, with culture bearers, with our ancestors is the way we remember who we are. I was drawn to this show because of that. I am drawn to doing everything I can to understand myself, and to understand those who have lived, lost, and loved to allow me the right to be myself...fully.
How do you go about translating a literary work into a visual world?
As we were doing the research for Esto, and as Denice was sharing with us the content of the interviews, I was struck by the pictures, the articles, the pins and buttons and jackets -- the ephemera, that serves as evidence of lives lived and love shared. When thinking about how to support Denice's storytelling, I felt that it was important to make these women's existences tangible. To have photos of them. To have their belongings on the stage. To have their presences in the audience. There are tons of nods to the women of Esto, both in the projections I designed, in the books and paperwork lining the stage, in the objects strewn around the space. The objective was to make their lives tangible. They are more than just stories.
In that way it was quite easy. It was more a chance to nerd out and do research which I do think is a big part of my artistic practice. This was a process of learning by listening, and letting these incredible women of Esto take up the space they have been so denied.
When you're not doing work with IJ, where can we find your work?
When I'm not at IJ, I make original works of experimental performance with my company, Ninth Planet. You can find out more about our work at ninthplanet.org or on our Instagram @ninth__planet.