Monuments Are Here
Just announced! A film night curated by Noutama Bodomo and Solange Knowles at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, part of Eldorado Ballroom, Curated by Solange Knowles.
An Evening of Film Surrounding Object Constellations, Black Domesticity & the Art of Collecting
Monuments Are Here is an original short film and film series produced by Saint Heron, meditating on the spiritual act of collecting. Written by Solange Knowles and directed by Nuotama Bodomo, the short film premiered at The Guggenheim, anchoring a series that features fellow visual works exploring Black domesticity, the sacred nature of collections, and the stories held within the objects we keep.
At the heart of the project lies a series of quiet, urgent questions:
What do our objects say about us in silence? Who are we through their reflection? What stories do they whisper to those we love when we are no longer present? Who are we in our homes, unseen? And what is our right to opacity—to choose when to be witnessed, and when not to be, even when that act of invisibility becomes a form of resistance?
Monuments Are Here brings these questions into focus through the story and personal archive of Gene “Shady The Great” Thomas—Grammy Award-winning artist and member of the legendary Parliament-Funkadelic collective. Though celebrated as a vocalist and producer, Thomas’s artistic expression extends beyond sound into the physical curation of memory and imagination.
Over decades, Thomas has composed a living collection—objects of nostalgia gathered from flea markets, tour stops, and the generous hands of his children. These are not merely possessions; they are extensions of self and soul. Each piece is stitched into a larger quilt of futurism, reverence, and timeless reflection. Within the walls of his home, these objects don’t just exist—they breathe, bearing witness to the sacred bond between the seen and the unseen, the remembered and the becoming.
For ADA information, please contact the Box Office at 713-227-4772 or email info@performingartshouston.org.