Tonsler Park

Artist and filmmaker Kevin Jerome Everson records the staff taking an oath, seeing rows of voters pass as they hand out voting slips, while no one seems aware of the camera that is standing there motionless. Conversations change to hubbub, backs block the camera’s view – this is democracy in practice and every vote counts.

Everson’s wealth of filmmaking in short and feature-length form focuses on the work culture and labour of black Americans. The title, Tonsler Park is named after Benjamin Tonsler, a local Afro-American school director who continued to teach older black pupils despite it being illegal to do so during the era of segregation in the US.

This screening is presented in collaboration with the ICA as part of the Art & Screen Network, funded by Arts Council England.