CAVE

Founded in 1996, and incorporated in 2004; CAVE’s mission is  to provide an explorative arena and support system for the artistic development of its permanent residents and community artists, hosting studio workspace, educational workshops, performance opportunities; assisting the realization of projects that support risk-taking in the visual, media, and performing arts. CAVE established an environment that attracts, provokes, and supports exchange, generative confrontation, and collaboration among artists and audiences from diverse cultures and artistic backgrounds.

CAVE’s current primary programs include:  1.) CAVE Productions, permanent residents commissions and publications, 2.)The biennial NY Butoh Festival, 3.) The NY Butoh-Kan, an intensive training program and master residency program for Butoh and Noguchi studies, 4.) Live/Work Residence opportunities, 5.) CAVE Studio, a low-cost dance rental facility, and 6) CAVE performance series.

CAVE has presented 70 art exhibitions, with over 300 artists: for a decade, openings featured music and & live performances. CAVE has provided work-studio/residency spaces for over 30 artists from 15 countries. In 2004, a Ford Foundation grant supported a 1-year Vietnamese Artist-in-Residence Program. From 2001, CAVE organized over 50 Butoh workshops, allowing 800 dancers to study with some of the most prominent masters. From 2003, CAVE presented and produced 3 editions of the NY Butoh Festival. The work of 90 emerging and established artists from Japan, Sweden, Germany, France, Colombia and the U.S were presented; 6,000 people attended various sold-out events. In 2006, our 10-year anniversary offered 6 weeks of performances and exhibitions, with 40 artists. The gallery was then converted into a dance studio rental facility, with a low public rental rate (with continued DTW and NYSCA support).   2008-2009 introduced the first 4 stages of the NY Butoh-Kan, a training initiative that focuses on strengthening the resources for the study of Butoh dance.

CAVE is led by video artist/curator Shige Moriya and theater-dance director/dancer Ximena Garnica. Our intention is based on the idea that people learn and are transformed through direct experiences that potentially awaken new levels of understanding and knowledge.

“The world is realized through experience,  discovered through questioning, and changed by action.”