Imani speaks with emerging artist, curator and poet Malachi Lily about shape-shifting, leadership and making space for nuanced representations of blackness.
Read MoreFounded in 2017, YallaPunk is an intersectional, trans-affirming performance festival and conference which celebrates the creative achievements of Middle Eastern and North African people in Philly and beyond. Here Imani Roach chats with YallaPunk’s founder, DJ and journalist Rana Fayez, about what to expect from this year’s festival (August 31 – September 2).
Read MoreMatt Kalasky speaks with artist Li Sumpter and educators Charlie McGeehan and Sam Reed about “Survival Guide for the Future” — an emergency preparedness, Afrofuturist and post-apocalyptic inspired curriculum conducted this spring at the U School High School in collaboration with The Galleries at Moore College of Art & Design. Culminating in both a student-created zine and an exhibition at The Galleries at Moore (opening tomorrow, Friday, Aug. 3, 2018), this project gave students a platform to reflect on their current lives and imagine a vibrant teen-centric Philadelphia of the future.
Read MoreThis week on Artblog Radio we’re featuring audio from the Blue Note Salon, an April 21st panel curated by Black Quantum Futurism at the Icebox Project Space. This interactive discussion covers a wide range of topics from the role of jazz musicians and jazz culture in paving the way for the Civil Rights Movement to current efforts by local artists to connect their work to social change movements addressing gentrification, displacement and cultural heritage preservation.
Read MoreImani Roach visits local artist Frances Beaver at her Fishtown studio to chat about her recent video project, Sex of the Earth, and her evolving relationship to narrative and performance.
Read MoreThe Women’s Mobile Museum is a year-long project by the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center which brings renowned South African Photographer, Zanele Muholi to Philadelphia to engage with a group of ten local women who are interested in media arts and museum studies but have not had significant access to formal training in these areas. Imani sat down with Muholi and two of the program’s apprentices, Shasta Bady and “Muffy” Ashley Torres, to discuss their hopes for the project and their journey thus far.
Read More“Activist Songbook,” a collection of 53 contemporary protest songs derived from community interviews, launches Thursday May 3rd at Asian Arts. Composer Byron Au Yong and Lyricist Aaron Jafferis speak with Imani Roach about collective action and how Asian American narratives complicate the American racial landscape.
Read MoreSueyeun Juliette Lee speaks with Imani Roach about her site-specific installation and performance piece, Piece Light, which premieres on Thursday May 3rd as a part of the Asian Arts Initiative’s 25th anniversary celebration weekend. They talk collaboration, the future of the Korean peninsula, and the boundless imagination that peace requires.
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