Founded 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 MoreImani visits the Blackstar film festival to see “Mr. Soul!,” a new documentary about late-1960s television broadcaster, Ellis Haizlip and his pioneering Black arts variety show Soul!. Here she speaks with the film’s cinematographer Hans Charles about his approach to documentary filmmaking and his new role as a producer.
Read MoreNew Artblog contributor Janyce Denise Glasper speaks with artist Makeba Rainey about and her digital portraiture, her Harlem roots, and her growing role in Philadelphia’s Black arts ecosystem.
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 MoreCarl(os) asks artists in the field how they deal with artistic disagreements and conflicts and he gets solid advice, which he shares. Talking and creating space for discussion are key. Read on and see more of what the professionals have to say.
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 MoreCarl(os) chats with Machine Dazzle, costume designer for Taylor Mac’s upcoming performance of “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music,” at the Kimmel Center June 2nd and 9th. They talk hoarding, trash aesthetics, designing on instinct and much more.
Read MoreImani talks to Trenton Doyle Hancock about “Moundverse Infants” his new installation of collected and commissioned “dolls” at Temple Contemporary through July 27th. Inspired in part by the Clark Doll Test, as well as by Hancock’s desire to take play seriously, the exhibition includes both new work created in collaboration with Tim Rusterholz of Tyler School of Art’s sculpture lab, and highlights from The Philadelphia Doll Museum’s collection of 20th century black dolls.
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 MoreArtblog’s own Maddie Hewitt speaks with Yixuan Pan about her new performance piece, “Conductible,” which showed earlier this month at the FringeArts May Scratch Night. “Conductible” combines many of Pan’s long-standing interests, including translation, sculpture, movement-based research and audience participation.
Read MoreArtblog’s Leah Gallant speaks with artist Shona McAndrew about censorship, the male gaze and discovering paper mache. “Moira,” McAndrew’s current show of sculptures and digital collages at Pilot Projects, is on view (by appointment) through Friday April 20th.
Read MoreFor years, multidisciplinary performer Martha Stuckey has commanded stages in a brightly-colored wig and stilettos as the lead singer of Red 40 and the Last Groovement, Philadelphia’s premier clown-funk-cabaret band. Now she is preparing to strike a more personal note in her upcoming commissioned show, Due to Sensitive Nature, on view April 12th-14th at the Kimmel Center’s SEI Innovation Studio. She speaks with Imani Roach about taking risks, growing up singing in Lutheran church, and what it means to be a woman in charge. How did kettle corn and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit help to shape her performance trajectory? Listen to find out. Imani interviewed Martha at Moore College of Art and Design’s TGMR radio station on April 3rd, 2018; the podcast is 51 minutes long.
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Support for Artblog has been provided by The Philadelphia Cultural Fund.
