(ANNANDALE-on-HUDSON, N.Y.) – Writer/performer Carl Hancock Rux and composer/musician Theo Bleckmann perform their two-man show, “The Exalted” – the story of the last days of German-Jewish art historian Carl Einstein, one of the first critics to affirm the importance of African sculpture, thus influencing the development of Cubism and the European avant-garde – at the Fisher Center at Bard College on Friday, October 16, and Saturday, October 17, at 7:30 p.m. Through music, video, text and installation, Rux and Bleckmann re-imagine the atrocities of occupation, the ‘discovery’ of African art by the West, and Einstein’s dream-like encounter with a metaphysical Diorama, as a metaphor for survival and self preservation.

“The Exalted” resurrects stories from the past in a mesmerizing narrative on the fight for freedom. Interwoven with reflections of the genocide of the Herero and Nama people in pre-WWI German-occupied Africa — the first genocide of the 20th century and a direct precursor to the Nazi Holocaust — “The Exalted” is a poetic meditation on heritage, love, and the willpower to overcome atrocity.

Performed by Rux and Bleckmann, “The Exalted” was conceived and written by Rux, based on his novel of the same name, with music by Bleckmann, video by Onome Ekeh, lighting design by Brian H. Scott, and scenic and costume design by Maureen Freedman.

“The Exalted” was first presented at the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA in 2013. The work was further commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music for its 2015 Next Wave Festival and developed in residence with Live Arts Bard at The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, and the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia.

There will be post-performance talks with the artists. Tickets are $25; $10 for students. For tickets and program information go to Fisher Center at Bard College or call the box office at 845-758-7900.