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Brief Histories

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Brief Histories

Based in New York City, Brief Histories presents art exhibitions, curatorial and publishing projects.

06/09/2026

𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔.𝒎𝒑𝟑 with Jumana Manna and Coleman Collins Wednesday, June 10 at 10am in NYC and 5pm in Bethlehem on Radio alHara 📻

𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔.𝒎𝒑𝟑 brings together conversations with artists and organizers whose practices consider transmission, translation, and coalition building across time and space.

this project was inspired by Radio alHara, and the platforms use of sound as a form of resistance. These monthly conversations consider the themes of transmission and translation and the way artists use sound to build alternatives to dominant histories. Some parts of these conversations dive into the insurgent capacities of sound, others think through the medium of radio, its deployment as an ideological tool, and the possibilities of nevertheless appropriating it toward radical ends.

for the second Wednesday of each month from April through July at 10 AM in New York and 4 PM in Bethlehem will be broadcasting conversation conversations with artists from the Brief Histories community.

𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔.𝒎𝒑𝟑 is organized by Alma Chaouachi, Mike Curran, Devon Ma, and Truth Murray-Cole, in collaboration with Fawz Kabra and Isak Berbic. Graphic design by Nadya Marin-Luna.

04.08.26 — Albert Maria Samreth
05.13.26 — Joe Namy and JJJJJerome Ellis
06.10.26 — Coleman Collins and Jumana Manna
07.08.26 — Yousef Anastas (Radio alHara) and Fawz and Isak (Brief Histories)

.r.curran

05/21/2026

Last week L’École du Soir hosted briefhistories.mp3 where we gathered for a group listening session of Christian Nyampeta’s The Africans, A Radio Play in Three Acts. Nyampeta performed a remix version of the radio play’s first act.

The Africans, A Radio Play in Three Acts, is what Nyampeta calls a “multiform audio-social structure.” Originally composed in 2021, the radio play is an adaptation of writer Ali A. Mazrui’s 1971 novel The Trial of Christopher Okigbo, in which the late Nigerian poet Christopher Okigbo is put on trial upon his arrival in After-Africa, following his death on the battlefield of the Biafran war. Was the poet entitled to place his individual civic engagement above his universal duty as an artist? In this audio reimaging, Nyampeta builds a sound world for Mazrui’s concept of “After-Africa,” an imagined pan-African realm where people go when they die. The story that unfolds examines the role of the individual artist in collective struggle. Thank you for bringing us into your deeply moving work 🫀

This event is part of the briefhistories.mp3 radio program, which gathers interviews with artists from and in orbit of the Brief Histories network, whose practices consider transmission, translation, and coalition-building across time and space. The episodes air monthly on the Bethlehem-based radio station Radio Alhara between April and July.

A massive thank you to our amazing collaborators Alma Chaouachi, Mike Curran, Devon Ma, and Truth Murray-Cole who organized the program, and thank you to Nadya Marin-Luna for the amazing graphic design work ❤️‍🔥

This project is developed through a graduate course at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, led by Fawz Kabra, visiting faculty at CCS Bard. It culminates a year-long reflection on radio as an alternative space and medium for artistic and cultural experimentation.

.r.curran

05/12/2026

𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔.𝒎𝒑𝟑 today at 10am in New York/4pm in Bethlehem on Radio alHara X Brief Histories: Joe Namy and JJJJJerome Ellis 🔊 listen on radioalhara.net

𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒇𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔.𝒎𝒑𝟑 brings together conversations with artists and organizers whose practices consider transmission, translation, and coalition-building across time and space.

This project was inspired by Radio alHara, and the platform’s use of sound as a form of resistance. These monthly conversations consider the themes of transmission and translation, and the ways artists use sound to build alternatives to dominant histories. Some parts of these conversations dive into the insurgent capacities of sound. Others think through the medium of radio, its deployment as an ideological tool, and the possibilities of nevertheless appropriating it toward radical ends.

For the second Wednesday of each month from April through July at 10am in New York and 4pm in Bethlehem, we’ll be broadcasting conversations with artists from the Brief Histories community.

05.13.26 — Joe Namy and JJJJJerome Ellis
06.10.26 — Coleman Collins and Jumana Manna
07.08.26 — Yousef Anastas (Radio alHara) and Fawz Kabra & Isak Berbic (Brief Histories)

Broadcast on Radio alHara.
Hosted and produced by Alma Chaouachi, Mike Curran, Devon Ma, and Truth Murray-Cole with Brief Histories.
Graphic design by Nadya Marin-Luna.

.r.curran

05/01/2026

𝑳𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒏 𝑵𝒚𝒂𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒂’𝒔  𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑨𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒔, 𝑨𝒄𝒕 𝟏

briefhistories.mp3 gathers a series of interviews with artists from and in orbit of the Brief Histories network, whose practices consider transmission, translation, and coalition-building across time and space. The episodes air monthly on the Bethlehem-based online radio station Radio Alhara between April and July.

Christian Nyampeta’s The Africans, A Radio Play in Three Acts, is what the artist calls a “multiform audio-social structure.” Originally composed in 2021, the radio play is an adaptation of writer Ali A. Mazrui’s 1971 novel The Trial of Christopher Okigbo, in which the late Nigerian poet Christopher Okigbo is put on trial upon his arrival in After-Africa, following his death on the battlefield of the Biafran war. Was the poet entitled to place his individual civic engagement above his universal duty as an artist? In this audio reimaging, Nyampeta builds a sound world for Mazrui’s concept of “After-Africa,” an imagined pan-African realm where people go when they die. The story that unfolds examines the role of the individual artist in collective struggle.

Nyampeta’s performance will take the form of an intimate listening session in the artist’s studio. He will perform a remixed version of the radio play’s first act, stitching the original ensemble’s voices together with the live score. A brief conversation with Nyampeta will precede the 40-minute performance.

This project is organized in collaboration with Brief Histories and the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, and marks the first event of Brief Histories since the gallery’s move from its location on the Bowery. It culminates a year-long reflection on radio as an alternative space and medium for artistic and cultural experimentation.

Space is limited, so please RSVP in advance. The address will be provided upon RSVP (🔗 in bio!)

briefhistories.mp3 is organized by Alma Chaouachi, Mike Curran, Devon Ma, and Truth Murray-Cole, in collaboration with Fawz Kabra and Isak Berbic. .r.curran

03/11/2026

Hello, it’s been a long time. Lots of news, but we are so happy to be one of the many voices featured in ART PAPERS final issue, Fire Ecology 🔥 🌱 🔥 The issue includes abridged dialogues from the two pillar programs of Fire Ecology: Atlanta Art Ecosystems and our Art Writing & Publishing Symposium. It features full-text versions of the Brief Histories and Fire Ecology talks from those events, plus contributions from Genderfail, Cannupa Hanska Luger, James Perkins, Jordan Eddy, and Heather Bird Harris.

Pre-order is open through March 16. The issue will be available in the Art Papers Shop beginning April 13, while supplies last—but a shipping charge will apply. Link in bio!
On the cover: Rinko Kawauchi, Untitled, from the Ametsuchi series, 2012, [courtesy of the artist and Rose Gallery, Los Angeles]

12/28/2025

Select Acts from The Peach Blossom Fan by Albert Maria Samreth, today 1–6pm 🪭

Here working on a 📻 series with CCS crew .r.curran 💿 coming 2026👂

12/18/2025

Some installation shots of 𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝘼𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙢 𝙁𝙖𝙣 by Albert Maria Samreth

Visit the exhibition today from 1–6pm 🪭

Images:

Telescope (2025)
Brass telescope, acupuncture needles, resin, artist’s pedestal
12 x 60 x 6 inches

Candle (2025)
Ceramic, glaze, copper, pigment, wax, cotton rope
10 x 9 x 12 inches

Key Shavings (2025)
Nickel, various metal alloys, debris (key shavings collected from hardware stores, acrylic
20 × 40 inches

12/17/2025

In 𝘿𝙪 𝙕𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙃𝙞𝙁𝙞 (2025), an Altec Lansing “Voice of the Theatre” A8 speaker has been modified and refaced with the bark of Du Zhong (Eucommia ulmoides). Within Traditional Chinese Medicine, Du Zhong is an essential compound utilized to fortify Jing—the primordial life force or essence. Atop this affected object rests a stack of microfiche, primarily sourced from archival editions of The New York Times, creating a physical weight of recorded history on top of an instrument of ephemeral sound. The A8 was originally engineered in the 1950s for the cavernous environments of movie houses and black-box theaters, designed to project the human voice with clinical authority. However, during the 1970s and 80s, these units were reclaimed by underground subcultures. Their high efficiency and robust low-end response made them a staple of early DIY soundsystems, essential for reproducing the emergent, bass-heavy frequencies of disco, house, and techno. The refacing of the speaker mimics this historical cycle of reappropriation. Just as the A8 was stripped from its institutional cinematic origins to fuel the narrative of the dance floor sound systems, it is here transformed again.

By cladding the “Voice of the Theatre” in a medicinal skin that promotes Jing, the work suggests a healing of the mechanical. The speaker no longer merely “outputs” data or sound; it becomes a living site of preservation, where the archived “news” of the microfiche is supported by the restorative power of the bark.

Albert Samreth
𝘿𝙪 𝙕𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙃𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙃𝙞𝙁𝙞 (2025)
Modified Altec Lansing A8 Voice of the Theater loudspeaker, medicinal eucommia bark, microfiche film reels
Dimensions Variable

𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝘼𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙢 𝙁𝙖𝙣 by Albert Maria Samreth is on view at Brief Histories through December 28.

12/13/2025

Albert Maria Samreth 𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝘼𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙢 𝙁𝙖𝙣 is on view at Brief Histories ✨

12/12/2025

In yesteryear reality was a play
Now the play is just like reality
From the sidelines I watch a second time
Heaven preserves a man with cold eyes

當年真是戲，今日戲如真。

我再次从场边观看上天眷顾眼神冷峻的人

The Peach Blossom Fan (1699) Kong Shangren

Albert Maria Samreth 𝙎𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝘼𝙘𝙩𝙨 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙤𝙢 𝙁𝙖𝙣 opens tonight 6–8pm at Brief Histories 115 Bowery #201

Address

115 Bowery
New York, NY
10002

Opening Hours

Wednesday	12pm - 6pm
Thursday	12pm - 6pm
Friday	12pm - 6pm
Saturday	12pm - 6pm

Telephone

+13479510267

Website

http://www.briefhistories.art/

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