NEWSLETTER
Immersive film installation by Karl Nussbaum in Hudson Hall’s historic theater
Exhibition Dates: June 25 – July 5, 2026; Artist Talk: Sunday, June 28, 2026 at 3 PM
Hudson, NY — Hudson Hall presents Ghost Dance for America, 1890, a large-scale immersive film installation by filmmaker and projection artist Karl Nussbaum. Taking place in Hudson Hall’s historic performance hall, the work draws on nineteenth-century pre-cinema illusion and optical devices to explore the history of Indigenous dispossession, colonization, and spiritual resistance in the United States.
Inspired by the Zoetrope and the Daguerreotype Diorama, Nussbaum surrounds viewers with a 25-foot ring of suspended translucent scrim. Film and shadow move continuously across the surfaces, placing visitors and their shadows inside the projected history itself.
The installation takes its title from the Ghost Dance, a spiritual movement that spread among Native American communities in the late nineteenth century in response to colonization, forced assimilation, and westward expansion. Wovoka, a Northern Paiute spiritual leader, prophesied that the dance would reunite the living with the spirits of their ancestors and help bring about a renewed world. Emerging from a period of profound violence and displacement, the movement carried a vision of resistance, restoration, and peace.
Nussbaum’s film and installation work has been exhibited internationally at venues and festivals including Sundance, Rotterdam, Oberhausen, the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum, Lincoln Center, Anthology Film Archives, and P.S. 122. A founding member of the influential 1980s East Village film collective Film Crash, his practice explores transformation, grief, memory, ghosts, and the intersection of science and spirituality. Recent works use suspended silk surfaces for projection, inspired by French Phantasmagoria performances and early film magic traditions.
“This installation is well suited for being presented a community-minded, cultural treasure like Hudson Hall,” says Nussbaum. “Built in 1855, Hudson Hall is situated within the historic timeline of this installation project – and six years before the beginning of the American Civil War. I am honored that Hudson Hall will be presenting Ghost Dance for America, 1890 on July 4, the 250th Anniversary of the un-United States of America."
In conjunction with the exhibition and Upstate Art Weekend, Hudson Hall will present The Making of "Ghost Dance for America, 1890", an artist talk with Karl Nussbaum on Sunday, June 28 at 3 PM. Taking place inside the work itself, the conversation will explore its historical references, visual language, and the process behind its creation.
Exhibition Details:
Ghost Dance for America, 1890
Film installation by Karl Nussbaum
Dates: June 25 – July 5, 2026
Hudson Hall
327 Warren Street
Hudson, NY 12534
For more information visit hudsonhall.org or call (518) 822-1438.
Related Program:
Artist Talk: The Making of Ghost Dance for America, 1890
with filmmaker Karl Nussbaum
Sunday, June 28, 2026 at 3 PM
Presented over Upstate Art Weekend and taking place inside the work, this conversation offers an inside look at the making of the installation, the references and inspirations for it, projection technologies used, and the powerful message it conveys. Free with reservation. Reservations at hudsonhall.org.
For more information:
hudsonhall.org/event/ghost-
Trailer & Press Kit
View or download a trailer and high resolution images and bio:
hudsonhall.org/press-kit-
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Image: Film still from "Ghost Dance for America, 1890." Courtesy of the artist.
About Hudson Hall
hudsonhall.org
Hudson Hall is a cultural beacon in the Hudson Valley, offering a dynamic year-round schedule of music, theater, dance, literature, film, workshops for youth and adults, as well as family programs and signature events such as the Hudson Jazz Festival and the Handel on the Hudson opera series. Built in 1855, Hudson Hall is a landmarked building housing New York State’s oldest surviving theater. @hudsonhallny