DARK LABORATORY

Listen to the story and concept behind my organization and book DARK LAB! “Playing in the dark,” we take inspiration from my former Prof @princeton Toni Morrison. We celebrate Black and Native survivance at the crossroads of stolen land and stolen life. In this video produced by the @newmuseum incubator @newinc I explain the genesis and the work our collective of 30+ people globally is doing on climate research and racial justice. We are located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side! And oh yeah, TODAY is PUB DAY!! Let the #DragonBabyBookTour commence. @darklaboratory @doubledaybooks

PROUD TO ANNOUNCE #DarkLab has a house, a historic New York City 3 storey home on #GovernorsIsland. Just minutes by boat from Manhattan’s Wall Street, we can’t wait to welcome visitors to be a part of our ISLAND DREAMING on climate futures and strategies. 🌱 🧪🧪The Lab, founded in 2020, takes its name from Toni Morrison’s PLAYING IN THE DARK. She said, “We are dreaming all wrong.” 👩🏽‍🔬 Visit @governorsisland to learn more about how @darklaboratory we see and dream about the “island as method.” For years we’ve been having picnics, cookouts, and camping ⛺️ retreats on the island. Most recently roasting marshmallows with @carmenlobue ! And now we get to call both Hunter College and Nolan Park HOME! ➡️Scroll to see the iconic yellow houses in Nolan Park! And scenes from the island. Examples of previous layouts. We’re welcoming ideas as we dream. Can’t wait to meet our neighbors. Look out for 📣📣 open calls coming soon for art residencies, 🎨 exhibitions, poetry readings, micro grant opportunities, our test kitchen @kitchenmarronage and @afro_asia_group library. Email us if you have ideas@💡 for collaborations or crossover : pop up events. Grand opening and house warming MAY 16 - THE ART OF THE HOUSE PARTY.

May 16 - Save the Date! 🧪 NYC 🌴 Open House. Learn more about our new initiatives exploring art at the crossroads of stolen land and stolen life. Secret location to be announced. 🤫 Stay tuned. Xx

That’s a wrap on #DarkLab presents #TheArtOfTheHouseParty Part I @governorsisland . Here’s a few snaps. More to come. Many thanks to everyone who attended and participated.

Meet the #DarkLab @afro_asia_group summer staff! 1. @taoleighgoffe 2. Fiona 3. @emiliemeimei 4. @karenlgc_e 5. @adedayo.joy_ Our constellation 🌌🧪is shining brighter thanks to these all-stars. Come to @governorsisland + @huntercollege to say hi at our Upper East Side at Gov Island locations!

Is it truly a @taoleighgoffe party without cake?! 🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂🎂@doubledaybooks DARK LABORATORY book cake 11am too early for cake? First come, first serve at the ribbon 🎀 cutting ✂️ of our new house. May 16 - Nolan Park. RSVP to join the waitlist. Link in bio. Join us tomorrow @governorsisland #DarkLab presents #TheArtOfTheHouseParty a series of panels on art, music, and climate action! And prizes including a spa day! 🧖🏽‍♀️ 11a-5p

TIX are SOLD OUT for my Saturday @governorsisland event! May 16. So we've opened 50 spaces on the WAITLIST. You will receive an email from eventbrite if we are able to open up a spot. We cant wait to welcome you to #HouseSavacou! Named for Bajan poet Kamau Brathwaite. Thanks so much for the outpouring of interest and support for #DarkLab! Scroll to see the lineup. Panels on arts admin, Black geographies, printed matter, the neuroscience of parenting, 🧠 and Afro-diasporic Central American traditions of fibre arts. 🧶 And see our inaugural exhibition #ContradictoryOmens @alexiscallender @isabelflower @outofseam_ @pesovisuals @jeremynative @missroxscott

CONTRADICTORY OMENS, an exhibition presented by #DarkLab @governorsisland SPRING 2026 Featuring paintings, photographs, and textiles by: 🌀 @alexiscallender #AlexCallender 🌀 @jeremynative #JeremyDennis 🌀 @pesovisuals #NathanielTélémaque 🌀 @outofseam_ #TajahEllis Curated by @taoleighgoffe at House Savacou More info soon. Stay tuned. 🧪🌌

Announcing the *Afro-Asia Reading Room* a physical home for plotting, reading, research, and cataloguing the oceans of volumes and archival documents on Black and Asian struggle, coalition, radical traditions, and the intimate tensions of all decolonizing peoples' movements worldwide. All in our new island HOUSE! By appt. Soft opening July 18, 2026. 11a. It was a deep honour to welcome London-based Publisher of @tiltedaxispress Kris Alfaro ( @krisvidaalfaro ) to inaugurate the room. We have been dreaming together for 8 years now about the Pacific and Atlantic currents that connect our two ancestral archipelagos the #Caribbean and the #Philippines. We first met at NYU in London as part of a fellowship program. It is our hope to make these paid research opportunities for deep study available on @governorsisland for those who focus on Afro-Asia, internationalism, and the press' mission of *translating waters.* Email us if you have ideas related to initiatives in the UK or NYC. At #DarkLab we love indie presses and can't wait to keep dreaming with @afro_asia_group and @tiltedaxisbooks Stay tuned for more announcements about the partnership! Check out the titles of our first books in the slides. Donations welcome! Books and funding. Profound gratitude also to our In-House Archivist @darklaboratory MariLu Monda ( @iamthelibrarybookdragon ) and Communications Editor Tajah ( @outofseam_ ) for being part of the core team. More announcements on what we're cooking up soon. Scroll to end to see #DarkLab flag outside our house.

THE LINEUP - MAY 16 - #DarkLab @governorsisland Panel and workshop features: @outofseam_ x @taoleighgoffe 4:30PM- THE ART OF ANCESTRAL FABRICS: BELIZE 🇧🇿 X JAMAICA 🇯🇲- INDIGO DYEING WORKSHOP part of the Dark Lab 🧪 🌌 opening ceremony - #TheArtOfTheHouseParty #TajahEllis is a bio-designer whose artisanship explores the regenerative mechanisms of intuitive chemistry, biological emergence and organic mapping. Her work with bio-materials and ecological excavation for dyes and pigments transforms plant matter into a vibrant range of colors, textures and patterns, evoking the signature of her re/de-construction practice, OUTOFSEAM. As an attendant of Waag Institute’s Fabricademy, Genspace’s Artist in Residence, and @newinc Creative Science Cohort, Tajah’s practice has deepened it’s dedication to Afro-Indigenous continuity and alternative calculating systems through her research with algae, logwood and crystals. Rooted in chemical transfiguration by drawing from rituals of antiquity into extended future formations, a crescendo has emerged with ‘noon’: Ellis’ latest project extending garment constructions and fiber installations into a research-based, community-activated, dream-driven journal. Tao Leigh Goffe is a critically-acclaimed writer, theorist, and interdisciplinary artist who was born in London and grew up between the UK and New York. She is the executive director of #DarkLab, which she founded in 2020. RSVP at link in bio to attend. Space limited 🔗 To participate in indigo dyeing email 📧 [email protected] to secure your spot. 🌀Please bring clean, pre-washed garments made from natural fibers such as cotton, linen, hemp, silk, or wool. Washing beforehand removes factory finishes so the indigo can properly bond to the fabric. Light-colored items dye best, especially white or cream. Avoid synthetic fabrics like polyester, as they will not take the dye. Instead bring items that are 100% cotton, linen, wool, or silk. Wear clothing you don’t mind getting stained, as indigo can mark surfaces and garments during the process. 🌀

MAY 16 - #DarkLab presents #theartofthehouseparty @governorsisland 1PM- THE ART OF MOTHERING: THEORY, JAZZ, IMPROVISATION @isabelflower x @taoleighgoffe sit down to discuss creativity, gestation, and the poetics of labor and first-time motherhood. Isabel Flower is an editor and writer. With Marcel Rosa-Salas, she is coauthor of “The Nameplate: Jewelry, Culture, and Identity” (Penguin Random House, 2023) and cohost of the Top Rank podcast. She is the public discourse manager at rearc institute, editorial director of Foundwork, executive editor of Deem Journal, and mentor-in-residence of the social architecture track @newinc Tao Leigh Goffe is executive Director of Dark Lab, which she founded in 2020. 🧪 To attend RSVP at link 🔗 in bio. Space is limited.

Introducing our nonprofits 💙 PANEL - MAY 16 - #DarkLab @governorsisland 3PM- THE ART OF ADMINISTRATION: YOUTH, AFRO-INDIGENOUS FUTURITY COMMUNITY ACTION @jeremynative , Dyashwa Sylvester, Stephen Tosh, @taoleighgoffe part of the Dark Lab 🧪 🌌 opening ceremony - #TheArtOfTheHouseParty Jeremy Dennis (b. 1990) is a contemporary fine art photographer, an enrolled Tribal Member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in Southampton, NY, and lead artist and founder of the non-profit @mashousestudio . In his work, he explores Indigenous identity, culture, and assimilation. Dennis was one of 10 recipients of a 2016 Dreamstarter Grant from the national non-profit organization Running Strong for American Indian Youth. He was awarded $10,000 to pursue his project, @onthissite , which uses photography and an interactive online map to showcase culturally significant Native American sites on Long Island. Dennis holds an MFA from Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, and a BA in Studio Art from Stony Brook University, NY. Dyashwa Sylvester plays an essential role in providing resources and support for the Shinnecock youth in order to ease the impacts of adult substance abuse, mental illness, and trauma in the Shinnecock Tribal community. She has been instrumental in drug/alcohol prevention and mental health education, exercise classes, wellness and recreational activities, skill-building, vocational and financial courses, fundraising activities, volunteering, family and community engagement activities. Stephen Tosh is the Executive Director/CEO of @boysclubny . He joined BCNY in 2010 and has since led the organization through major milestones. Previously, Stephen served for ten years as Executive Director of the Phipps Community Development Corporation, a multi-site human service agency. He has a MA/ABD in Sociology from New York University and received his B.A. from Dartmouth College.   Tao Leigh Goffe is a critically-acclaimed writer, theorist, and interdisciplinary artist who was born in London and grew up between the UK and New York. She is the executive director of Dark Lab. RSVP at link in bio to attend. Space limited 🔗