living room art productions

"VBB is a unique cultural organization that brings to Houston the most diverse and progressive voices of the international writers, artists, and activists. As an exiled Iranian novelist, VBB feels like "home" to me.”
–Farnoosh Moshiri, recipient of VBB’s 2006 Vailente Award and author of four novels including The Bathhouse and Gravity.

In 2009-10, VBB's living room art productions expanded to a thematic neighborhood-based series that are researched and developed by VBB's Artistic/Founding Director Sehba Sarwar. The shows focus on creating parallels between struggles, joys, and cultures in cities and neighborhoods in Houston, and to connect them to similar issues in Pakistan and South Asia. The future goal of the project is to travel to other neighborhoods in different parts of the world including countries such as Mexico, India, Palestine and more. All VBB living room art productions are multidisciplinary, and create space for spoken word artists, writers, performance artists, musicians, and speakers.  

The productions first started in 2006, guided by then-VBB employee artist Oskar Sonnen. Over the years, even as the productions have evolved over the years, the living room art productions continue to be held in residential homes around Houston, and are open to the public, and the productions: bring together disparate neighborhoods and communities; bring together diverse populations who may not ordinarily go to a gallery/museum; and tackle social justice through art. The specific goal of the project is to uncover histories that are lost and to explore the stories of individuals that have served as catalysts to change.

Currently, VBB is working to expand the productions past the one night that they take place in a residential home in a Houston neighborhood.  Our 2011-12 season will kick-off the expansion project. The series have been held in Houston's East End, First Ward, and Sixth Ward; this year, there will be productions in Houston's Third Ward.

Click here to view Yunuen Perez Vertti's short documentary about VBB's first living room art production in its new format!

VBB's core productions are: living room art, East End Live Art, VBB Radio: Think Global – Act Local! and Cultural Narratives.