Taji Ra’oof Nahl talks history, music, spirituality and compassion

By Artblog September 22, 2017

Artblog's Imani Roach and Roberta Fallon talked with Taji Ra'oof Nahl about his complex art practice that includes collaboration at its core. Nahl ran his own gallery in Old City from the late 1980s to 2010, where he showed, among others, Terry Adkins' work. Taji was a friend of Adkins, and their practices both involve music, found objects, and researching under-known African American historical figures. In the interview Nahl tells Imani and Roberta about discovering the Colonial-era polymath, Benjamin Banneker, who became the subject of his installation in 'Unlisted,' the big multi-curator, multi-artist show at Icebox Project Space in 2016. We interviewed Taji Nahl at Moore College of Art and Design's TGMR radio station on Sept. 14, 2017, and the podcast is 37 minutes long.

Taji Ra'oof Nahl at our podcast holding a scepter-like object he made memorializing Benjamin Bannaker, colonial-era free African American, who was a naturalist, surveyor, author, farmer - a polymath. — Taji Ra’oof Nahl at our podcast holding a scepter-like object he made memorializing Benjamin Bannaker, colonial-era free African American, who was a naturalist, surveyor, author, farmer – a polymath.

Be sure to visit Taji Ra’oof Nahl’s website to see his videos, performances, sonic pieces and more.

Thank you to The Galleries at Moore TGMR radio project for making this podcast possible, and especially to Matt Kalasky for inviting Artblog to participate in the Moore TGMR radio project.