The Reincarnation of Rockland Palace was a community art event designed and organized by Swedish artist and filmmaker Sara Jordenö and American activist artist Twiggy Pucci Garçon. On a hot evening in July 2012, hundreds of members of the KIKI scene, as well as the New York art and fashion world, moved to a sad parking lot in Harlem to celebrate, resuscitate and reclaim the spirit of the Rockland Palace Ballroom which once stood there and which was, until its demolition in the 1960s, the epicenter of Manhattan’s ballroom culture.

“The Reincarnation of Rockland Palace” ball was the place for breathtaking performances and presentations with elaborate effects made by the young Kiki scene, an evolution of the Ballroom community as a artistic and social movement created by LGBTQI + Black and Latinx communities in New York City in the 1920s. Through photographs and video documentation, the exhibition presented at the Institut Suédois restores this reconstruction project.

With support from the Swedish Art Council.

Exhibition. 15.10.2020 – 10.01.2021
Wednesday – Sunday / 12:00 – 18:00
Opening night. 14.10.2020 / 18:00 – 20:00
Admission free.
The event details are subject to change following the latest governmental recommendations in the current pandemic situation.

The event details are subject to change following the latest governmental recommendations in the current pandemic situation. To ensure that everybody is protected and that events run smoothly, our team is implementing a number of hygiene and safety measures.

The exhibition The Reincarnation of Rockland Palace is one of the three projects arising from the collaboration between the Swedish artist and filmmaker Sara Jordenö and the US militant artist Twiggy Pucci Garçon: an exhibition documenting the art project in public space, The Reincarnation of Rockland Palace (2012); several screenings of the documentary film KIKI made in 2016; and a new performance event in the form of a French-Swedish-American Ball featuring runway and voguing workshops and opportunities to meet members of the Ballroom community in Sweden, Paris and New York.

Further information about the Ball, workshops, other films and upcoming events will be posted on our website during autumn.