OF NOTE- People In The News: Tuesday, November 19
Brooklyn-born artist YASIIN BEY, formerly known as Mos Def, debuted his latest recording as a multimedia installation at Brooklyn Museum last week. The exhibit, called “Negus” after the word for ‘king’ or ‘ruler’ in an ancient Ethiopian language, is a 28-minute listening experience, which includes visual artwork by ALA EBTEKAR, JULIE MEHRETU and JOSÉ PARLÁ, inspired by the album and curated specifically for Brooklyn Museum. “Few American art forms have grown to be as globally influential as hip-hop, a genre which was largely crafted on the streets of New York City,” LAUREN ZELAYA, director of public programs at the museum, told BK Reader. “Negus” will be playing at Brooklyn Museum through January 26, 2020.
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Former elementary school teacher, author and master brewer JEPPE JARNIT-BJERGSØ launched his latest venture, a taproom and beer garden for his widely beloved “nomadic” beer brand Evil Twin, in Ridgewood, Queens last month. Originally hailing from Copenhagen, Jarnit-Bjergsø moved to Brooklyn in 2012, joining forces with former Momofuku head chef DAVID BURNS to open Tørst Bar in Greenpoint the following year. Many of the beers offered at the Ridgewood taproom, housed within a large glass greenhouse steps from the Halsey L stop, are New York City-inspired, with names like “Chuck Berry Twister Bodega Smoothie,” “Today’s Forecast: Unhealthy Air Quality for Sensitive Groups” and “Isn’t Brooklyn a Little Sketchy? Why Would You Live There?” The brewery’s name is apt as well — Jarnit-Bjergsø has an estranged twin brother, MIKKEL BORG BJERGSØ, who also owns a brewery, the Copenhagen-based Mikkeller, which opened a taproom in Flushing last spring.