Long before Henry Hudson’s arrival in 1609, Manhattan or Manaháhtaan, as originally named by the indigenous Lenape people, was a place of gathering and exchange amongst diverse nations. Today, Broadway runs along a portion of the original matrix of trails that connected Manaháhtaan to the broader northeast region and the Great Lakes.

 “Lenapeway,” an installation by artist Beatrice Glow and the Wayfinding Project at NYU’s Asian/Pacific/American (A/P/A) Institute, will be on 24-hour view in the street-level windows of 715 Broadway (at Washington Place) from October 10 to December 9. The location of the installation, which is viewable from the sidewalk 24/7 and is co-sponsored by NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, marks the intersection of the main Lenape trail and a side-trail that traverses through present-day Washington Square Park.

 With the intention of realigning the Broadway spine of this island with its indigenous heritage, the window features life-sized images of majestic muxulhemenshi, the Lenape name for tulip trees (liriodendron tulipifera), which were fashioned into the dugout canoes in which Lenape used to meet, negotiate, and trade along coastal rivers and waters. Also included is a digital reconstruction of pre-colonial Manaháhtaan created by the Mannahatta Project, led by Bronx Zoo’s Wildlife Conservation Society ecologist Eric Sanderson. This reconstruction outlines the extensive network of trails that exemplify how the Lenape people sustainably managed the land prior to colonization. By revealing the original map of the region, “Lenapeway” aims to encourage present-day New Yorkers to imagine themselves along the Lenape trail while spurring a new consciousness of the land.

Installation Hours and Location:
“Lenapeway”

Monday, October 10–Friday, December 9, viewable 24/7 from street level   Admission: free

For more information and to plan a visit, please call 212.998.3700 or visitwww.apa.nyu.edu.
Subways: N, R (8th St.); 6 (Astor Pl.)

 To supplement the installation, Glow and the Wayfinding Project have partnered with Highway 101, ETC (Experiential Tech Community) to build Mannahatta VR, a virtual reality experience in the HTC Vive, and create a virtual tour of Manaháhtaan. These will take place at the A/P/A Institute, located at 8 Washington Mews (between University Place and 5th Avenue), on Mon., Nov. 14, 2-5 p.m. and Mon., Dec. 12, 2-5 p.m.

Glow will also lead a walking tour of a portion of the Lenapeway trail and NYU’s native plant gardens on Tues., Oct. 18, 5:30 p.m. The hour-long excursion begins at 715 Broadway—the site of the installation.

To attend the virtual tour of NYU’s native plant gardens at the A/P/A institute or the walking tour, please RSVP at www.apa.nyu.edu/events or 212 992 9653.

About the collaborators

The Wayfinding Project is initiated by John Kuo Wei Tchen and the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU. The lab uses time-tested and cutting edge technologies to challenge the mythos of Manhattan through a collaborative research project exploring the many facets of Indigenous life along the Lenapeway. Established in 1996, the Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU provides a space in which research and discussions on communities, creative knowledge making, and intercultural studies can thrive amongst faculty, students, and the New York community within an international and comparative framework.

Beatrice Glow is the 2016-2017 A/P/A Institute Artist-in-Residence. Her practice comprises of sculptural installations, trilingual publishing, participatory performances and lectures, and experiential technologies. Glow is the recipient of the 2015 Van Lier Visual Art Fellowship at Wave Hill and was named a 2015 Joan Mitchell Foundation Emerging Artist Finalist. In 2014, she was awarded a Franklin Furnace Fund grant to create the Floating Library—a pop-up, mobile device-free public space aboard the historic Lilac Museum Steamship on the Hudson River. Glow is a Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics’ Council Member, and previously was Artist-in-Residence at the LES Studio Program at Artists Alliance Inc. Her most recent activities include Aromérica Parfumeur, a solo exhibition at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Chile (2016) and Rhunhattan at Wave Hill (2015). She holds a BFA in Studio Art from NYU.

Press Contact

James Devitt, (212) 998-6808