South Philly Review

The parking lot on the northwest corner of Ninth and Montrose streets is off limits to everybody except Di Bruno Bros. employees. Signs warn of towing, but from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, visual and performance artists from Philadelphia (including many locals), as well as New York and Baltimore, will take over the space inside the Italian Market for the first-ever South Philly Biennial. The name is a nod to an event that occurs every two years, but performance artist/event organizer Athena Barat said, "I called it that so it would happen again. That's my goal. It's a very optimistic name."

According to the 26-year-old from Fourth and Reed streets, the whole point of the Biennial is to merge artists with the existing community. Art in public places that do not normally showcase it is important in her eyes because it reminds people transformation can happen anywhere.

"The goal of the project is to introduce people to art who aren't accustomed to seeing art on their own turf. The market is already a community space, so I wanted to be in that market space. The other goal is on the artist side -- I find a lot of artists are preaching to the choir and I wanted to make them communicate to an audience that may not be familiar with art. My belief is that art is communication. In doing a project like this, it widens the community," Barat said.

Biennial's eclectic offerings of music and art will even feature a tea room with Tea Monkeys displaying its home-grown interpretation of gong-fu. More a ritual than an actual brewing, gong-fu uses short, multiple infusions of a single batch of leaves to create maximum flavor.

Biennial also will feature face painting, fortune telling and a magician. Performance artists include musical acts Sweatheart, Tayaesha Busay and Jimmy Cousins and his band and the dance ensemble Club Lyfestile. Barat's roommate Jen Rice is part of the dance team and The Live Karaoke Band Experience, which also will perform Saturday.

Sweatheart singer and co-founder Rose Luardo, from Eighth and Federal streets, thinks the time is right for an offering like this.

"I think that South Philly is so special. It's really magical, especially the market. I've been living in that area for four years now and I've seen it change," the 36-year-old, who cofounded the pop/performance art band in 2004 with live-in boyfriend Thom Lessner, said. "There is a lot of art coming out of that area now. There are a lot more artists flocking to that area. There's so much life there, so many different groups of people. I feel it's like a mini-melting pot, older generations, younger generations and people intermingling, so why not celebrate South Philly and the burgeoning artistic scene. I'm really proud to be a part of this."

Barat will sing with Cousins and perform a solo jazz lounge act. Over the years, she's done everything from sock operas as a one-woman "Phantom of the Opera" with hand puppets for characters to singing rock-n-roll.

While Barat enjoys performing, she said she views herself more as an "arts diplomat."

"While I do love to do music-based performances, those forms are much more self-involved and have little to do with other people -- other than an audience. I consider my art to be forum-creating; maybe that's what curating is, maybe that's what teaching is, I'm not sure, but I do know that I love to combine elements and watch how they effect each other," she said.

Barat grew up in the art world. Father Gary, a photographer whose work has been exhibited in New York and France, and mother Chandri, who studied at the Sorbonne, established the Barat Foundation, a nonprofit arts education organization that offers sojourns to France, where Barat has spent time since her teenage years.

"The foundation puts everyone involved, students and staff, in one big house for the summer," Barat said. "Teachers give classes in French and literature during the morning, then the afternoons are workshop-based, each teacher giving a workshop in their specific area of expertise."

Barat's time there, first as a student in her teens, then as a teacher, has shaped her penchant for the arts.

"I have met incredible people from all over the world and it's given me a very open view of what art can be. So, because of this, I say that my art is facilitation, cultural diplomacy and communication."