To request access to the full archival video for research purposes please email [email protected].
Acclaimed director Sister Sylvester and a cohort of BGC students lead audiences through this bio-art lecture performance. Genetic and archival research—on a costume hat from Bertolt Brecht’s Berliner Ensemble—are woven together to help us remember the stories of those who wore it. This hands-on experience is for ages 14 and up.
Sister Sylvester (aka Kathryn Karaoglu Hamilton) is an artist based in New York and Istanbul. As Sister Sylvester, she creates essayistic performances that use first-hand research, found documents, animals, and technology to make cross-species collaborations and cyborg theater. She is a current resident at ONX Studio, a new media workspace created by the Onassis Foundation and the New Museum; a 2019 MacDowell Fellow; and an alumnus of the Public Theater Devised Theater Working Group and New Works program. Her most recent film, Our Ark, co-directed with Deniz Tortum, premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam in November 2021 and has screened at international festivals, including the Istanbul International Film Festival, where it won Best Short Film.

Additional Credits
  • Bruce Steinberg, Associate Director
  • Script and visuals by Sister Sylvester
  • Lighting and video by Bruce Steinberg
  • Dramaturgy by Andrew Kircher
  • Additional video by Robin A. Ediger-Seto and Hyung Seok Jeon
  • Additional sounds by UCCS orchestra and Lane Shi Otayonii
  • Biological support, Genspace and Desplan Lab, NYU
  • Production Stage Manager, Josh Massey
  • Ensemble: Angela Crenshaw, Anna Van Lenten Crowley, Mariá José Espinosa, Bob Hewis, Dorothy Hudson, Caroline Montague, Rachel Salem-Wiseman, Samantha K. Santana, Alex Stern, Teddy Styles, Luli Zou.
  • Special Thanks: students of University of Colorado at Colorado Springs 2019 and Bryn Mawr 2020 for workshopping brilliance, and Beth Tuck, Dr. Michael Flanagan, Dr. Angela Armendariz, Jehovani Lopez, and Cyborg Reading Group participants for science and theory guidance and experiments.