Artists and Oral Historians: Community Partners

Wednesday, January 15, 2014
12:00 – 1:15pm EST

Co-facilitators:
Mi’Jan Celie Tho-Biaz, Founding Director, Sound Pollination; International and Multicultural Education Ed.D. (Candidate); Groundswell Practitioner Support Network Working Group
Desi Mundo, Founder, Community Rejuvenation Project, Oakland, California.
Wanjiru Kamuyu, Founding Artistic Director, WKcollective. Kenyan American, Paris-based, Wanjiru collaborates across artistic disciplines, opening discourse and intrigue through the power of poetic expression in vocal and physical movement.

During this PSN chat, we invite you to listen to Desi and Wanjiru, as they map their different work experiences across diverse geographic regions, using oral histories as a successful platform for generating “text” for mural projects, and contemporary dance performances. We will also spend time discussing questions like: how do collaborations emerge between oral historians and socially engaged artists; and what are some best practices and strategies for building and sustaining successful collaborations? Time permitting, we will delve into the burning question on many minds: ideas and experiences about funding art & oral history collaborations.

To participate in the video chat, sign up here.

*The image for this post is from a collage by Isabelle Aspera, featured in SWEAR magazine which was published by the Community Rejuvenation Project in 2009.