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  • A Gathering of the Tribes

    A Gathering of the Tribes is an arts and cultural organization dedicated to excellence in the arts from a diverse perspective. Located on the Lower East Side of New York City, Tribes has been in existence since 1991.


  • A Gathering of the Tribes, 285 East 3rd St, 2nd Floor (between Avenues C and D)
    Phone: 212-674-3778
    Fax: 212-674-5776
    Email: Info@tribes.org


  • Tribes is a member of Chamber Music of America, Poets & Writers, Poets Society of America, St. Marks Poetry Project. We are Funded by NYC DCA, NYSCA & The Andy Warhol Foundation among others. All contributions are tax deductible.

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  • The 16th Annual Charlie Parker Festival

    Throughout the forties, Charlie Parker revolutionized jazz and immortalized the Lower East Side by capturing its combustive atmosphere and translating it into music. It is no wonder that every year the Lower East Side returns a little bit of the favor by celebrating Charlie Parker, his life and his legacy, as well as his deep rooted relationship with this neighborhood, through A Gathering of the Tribes' Charlie Parker Festival.
    This year, A Gathering of the Tribes is please to present the 16th Annual Charlie Parker Festival, entitled "BIRD LIVES," from August 2 - August 29. More information about this year's festival can be found here

Latest Reviews

A POET’S PROSE/Islanders 6Sept10 by David Henderson

A POET’S PROSE: Islanders by Ammiel Alcalay
132 Pages. City Lights Books, San Francisco 2010
Reviewed by David Henderson
Ammiel Alcalay has been closer to war than most contemporary poets.  His late father, a painter, spent time in an Italian concentration camp during World War Two. His son, Ammiel, having accrued fluency in several languages along the way, […]


Ernest Hemingway (A Review of Tao Lin’s Richard Yates)

Since I have like three venues to publish it in, and I told Tao I needed a galley, I feel obliged to write a review of Tao Lin’s novel, Richard Yates. I don’t think I will ever read anything by Richard Yates. Reading Tao Lin has a way of erasing any literary knowledge […]


Just Kids, a Memoir by Patti Smith: “Because of Robert”

Reviewed by K.A. Sitafalwalla

Partially a proclamation to the 1970’s, the artists and the derelicts, the rich and poor, the talented and talent-less, “Just Kids” stands as an ode to friendship and love; everything in between. Patti Smith’s memoir is poetic and true with an honesty and straightforwardness that is disguised in her poetry and music. […]


I Need That Record Store: Retail as Club Membership

by Kurt Gottschalk

I first heard about it when I was about 12 — a store where Kiss albums could be procured for about a dollar less than at the mall; a store that, strangely, wasn’t in the mall. It wasn’t far, but it did mean asking my mother to make another trip.

Things seemed different at […]


Whitney Biennial 2010

By Vedan Anthony-North

With a name like “2010” you don’t really know what to expect when heading to the 2010 Whitney biennial. Unfortunately, you don’t really know what to think about the exhibit after leaving either. Though the theme of “2010” is justified by the curators Francesco Bonami and Gary Carrion-Murayari in the exhibit’s […]



Latest Poetry

A POET’S PROSE/Islanders 6Sept10 by David Henderson

A POET’S PROSE: Islanders by Ammiel Alcalay
132 Pages. City Lights Books, San Francisco 2010
Reviewed by David Henderson
Ammiel Alcalay has been closer to war than most contemporary poets.  His late father, a painter, spent time in an Italian concentration camp during World War Two. His son, Ammiel, having accrued fluency in several languages along the way, […]


In Church with Branded Knees

by Ayshia Stephenson
I don’t want him to tear my clothing off anymore. I don’t want him to crush my serenity
into this tiny spit of a paper ball, pit stuck in my throat, like it sits in a child who can not
say: please get it out. Branded knees need a buffer from a pebbled surface. Can […]



Latest Essays

A POET’S PROSE/Islanders 6Sept10 by David Henderson

A POET’S PROSE: Islanders by Ammiel Alcalay
132 Pages. City Lights Books, San Francisco 2010
Reviewed by David Henderson
Ammiel Alcalay has been closer to war than most contemporary poets.  His late father, a painter, spent time in an Italian concentration camp during World War Two. His son, Ammiel, having accrued fluency in several languages along the way, […]


UNPOP curatorial statement

by Janet Bruesselbach
“A free society is one in which it is safe to be unpopular.” –Adlai Stevenson
Unpop has a variety of playful reactions to both art as commodity and the political legacy of pop art. Art is a commodity so oversupplied that it may be the testing grounds for a post-scarcity economy. Its economy of […]



Latest Fiction

A POET’S PROSE/Islanders 6Sept10 by David Henderson

A POET’S PROSE: Islanders by Ammiel Alcalay
132 Pages. City Lights Books, San Francisco 2010
Reviewed by David Henderson
Ammiel Alcalay has been closer to war than most contemporary poets.  His late father, a painter, spent time in an Italian concentration camp during World War Two. His son, Ammiel, having accrued fluency in several languages along the way, […]


Ernest Hemingway (A Review of Tao Lin’s Richard Yates)

Since I have like three venues to publish it in, and I told Tao I needed a galley, I feel obliged to write a review of Tao Lin’s novel, Richard Yates. I don’t think I will ever read anything by Richard Yates. Reading Tao Lin has a way of erasing any literary knowledge […]



Latest Videos

MOVIE NIGHT: Unpop Popcorn this Saturday

Washington Chavez presents “So Many Galleries” and more video adventures of an artist in New York City this Saturday, September 11, at 7 pm.
Tribes would like to thank Capital One Bank, Two Boots Pizzeria, Whole Foods and the Department of Cultural Affairs for their continued support.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from […]


A Starter Kit for Collectors: Exposition et vente au profit de TRIBES

A Starter Kit for Collectors: Exposition et vente au profit de A Gathering of the Tribes
Samedi 1er mai – Dimanche 16 mai 2010
Vernissage: Samedi 1er mai 14-18H
Réception pour les artistes : Samedi 1er mai, 19h-22H
Tribes Gallery
285 East 3rd Street, 2ème étage, NYC 10009
A Gathering of the Tribes est une association artistique et culturelle qui […]


Louise and Me by: Neila Mezynski

Louise and Me

New York City, Sunday afternoon, six hopefuls and Louise Bourgeois. For 30 some years, Louise (not Ms. Bourgeois- her choice), has invited artists to her home to share their work; sculptors, painters photographers, writers, dancers even . We sat. We waited. The heat. No air. Louise. Her scrutiny, the grand dame. Others present : Head griller, drivers, husbands, videographer, Pouran Esrafily, recorder of Sunday Salons. Interminable.

The moment arrives. Louise, she enters. A tiny fragile lady replete with white cap on head, for what purpose (90 degrees in the room), supported by her assistant and Pouran. They place the precious 95 year old package on pillows in chair. We greet her with “Holy Mackerel”! Her request. I uttered “Cheez Louise” and was immediately pierced; those eyes. Sweating buckets in the airless room, we were. Louise, a cool cucumber. Mandatory bringing your work to share. I brought photos. Elected to go first, I proceeded to the “hot spot”, a table, her eyes so near, don’t touch. “Why did you come”? he asks, the poetic griller. Fumble and dodge. She looks, she sees. “no, no, no”, her words. Then, instructions to pass the photos around for group appraisal, that huge ostrich egg, my throat. I braced, Louise pierces. More questions: hows and whys. I perked up. She perked up. Six weeks post Louise, new painting territory, a real reason. “Holy Mackerel”! Louise.


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“Red Chairs” by Neila Mezynski

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“Three Dresses” by Neila Mezynski

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“Three Horses” by Neila Mezynski