Shanta ignites the imagination with stories and music of the sitar and mbira.

Shanta Nurullah was born into a musical family and studied piano and tap dancing throughout her formative years. While in college, she was able to travel to India and study Indian Classical music and the sitar. Shanta has been performing professionally as a musician since 1972, and as a storyteller since 1978. After college, Shanta immersed herself in the Black Arts Movement as a member of the Kuumba Workshop, Kelan Phil Cohran’s Black Music Workshop, and associating with writers, visual artists, dancers, and members of the AACM.

Shanta has received an Illinois Arts Council Artist Fellowship, the Zora Neale Hurston Award from the National Association of Black Storytellers, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Mutual Mentorship for Musicians(M3). A 2021 3Arts Awardee, she has received grants from the Nevada Arts Council, the American Association of University Women and the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Shanta has an original story on permanent display at Brookfield Zoo (IL) and has been a storytelling teacher and mentor for many years.

Brown Calculus is an intergalactic duo who explore the soundscapes of the post-soul movement. Keyboardist and beat maker, Brown Calvin, and singer/songwriter, Brown Alice, are Geminis, illuminating the sacredness of Black music, seeking to bring about community on Earth and beyond. They reveal the connection between complicated time signatures and Black divinity, with a cosmic sound that remains grounded. Sharing the same body in their past lives, they perform with melanated synergy. In the Fall of 2017 they released their debut EP, Live at The Map Room, via Konduit Records. This intimate recording gives a glimpse into the jazzy universe of Brown Calculus, who share an uplifting message of healing love.

Jada-Amina is an interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and curator hailing from the South Side of Chicago. Invoking the spirit of Black sonic and devotional traditions, they hum and hymn through the post-apocalyptic world. Through sound, video, and collage, Jada-Amina delves into the fragmented essence of memory, where analog and cultural data transcend immateriality, forming conduits to other worlds. Their work evokes the speculative and surreal to navigate the liminal spaces of Black existence. Confronting the haunting echoes of the past, gospel serves as a beacon, promising a world beyond the postcolonial landscape.

elijah jamal asani is a nigerian-american anti-disciplinary artist, the òrìsà of longing & son of the river wimahl \\ .. as an afro-surrealist, elijah navigates soft nuances through new colours and infinite ((sweet))nothings.

In 2007, seven African dancers came together to learn the art of the drum to enhance and improve their dancing. The sisters were led by Tosha ‘Ayo’ Alston and the seed of Ayodele Drum & Dance was planted. Ayodele, a Yoruba word meaning “Joy in the home”, is now a diverse sister-circle of performing artists committed to studying and performing drum and dance as a wellness modality. We’ve grown from that circle of seven to over twenty Queens who use African drum and dance to educate and motivate young women and children through performances, community engagement, and our youth program. Whether we’re teaching children, healing the community with classes, producing sold out concerts, studying with female Samba Masters in Brazil, Master Djembe and Dununfolas of West Africa or spreading our healing energy through performances; Ayodele Drum & Dance remains an unending circle firmly rooted in joy. Ayodele is proudly supported as a Chicago Park District Arts Partner in Residence at Sherman Park, Associate of the Community Programs Accelerator of University of Chicago Office of Community Engagement, Community Arts Partner of the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, and inaugural cohort member of the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project.

Laruni Hati Garifuna Dance Group of Chicago was formed in 2010. The group consists of drummers, singers, and dancers who specialize in several cultural dances; Hunguhungu (usually danced at opening of the performance), punta (most popular), chumba (almost like salsa), and combination (mixture of hunguhungu and punta). Laruni Hati have performed at several events in the Chicagoland area pre-pandemic. Laruni Hati performers also plan and perform at the annual Garifuna Settlement Day Celebration which celebrates the arrival of the Garinagu people to the shores of Belize, Central America on November 19, 1802 here in Chicago. Majority of the dances are Belizean-Americans but have roots in Honduras and Guatemala.

Wild is a film director, movement artist, and storyteller who focuses on the liberation that comes from cultural and ancestral re-connection. Their primary love lies in creating these types of afro-fantasy films and theatrical performances in everyday spaces.

A.J. McClenon is a multi-disciplinary artist born and raised in Washington, DC and currently residing in Chicago. A.J. holds a Masters in Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2014) and a Bachelor of Arts with a minor in creative writing from the University of Maryland College Park. A.J. has performed and shown work throughout the US, at institutions including Steppenwolf, The Promontory, Woman Made Gallery, Echo Park Film Center, Chicago Filmmakers, Fine Art Complex 1101, and Longwood Arts Center. A.J. is also a co-founder of F4F, a domestic venue that cultivates a femme community, centers blackness, and expands upon understandings of what domestic space can be.

Alongside with artistic experiences, A.J. is passionate about teaching and community collaborations with the goal that all the memories and histories that are said to have “too many Black people,” are told and retold again. As a means to uphold these stories A.J. creates performances, installations, objects, sounds, visuals, and writings. These creations often revolve around an interest in water and aquatic life, escapism, Blackness, science, grief, US history, and the global future. A.J. is deeply invested in leveling the hierarchies of truth and using personal narrative to speak on political and cultural amnesia, and their absurdities.

Suspended Culture is an emerging Black art collective based in Chicago, IL.

A Suspended Culture is a culture on pause, a movement interrupted, a dream deferred. As a collective of visionaries, our work together inhabits the liminal space of a dream. Time is no longer necessary here; rather, time collapses into an ever-expanding radical presence. In a Suspended Culture, we play. We rehearse the future and we invite love to bind us to what liberates us.

We consider love a revolutionary practice through which it can conjur anything required, and a Suspended Culture exists in an alternative reality rooted in love. It embodies Afro-surreal interpretations of Black futures, embraces the absurd, and thinks with the body. A Suspended Culture uses pleasure as its map and sinks int the portal of “Yes, and...”.

A Suspended Culture is a moment of rest!

Carissa Lee Pinckney is a performance and sound artist. She received her BFA in theater from NYU and her MFA from the School of the Art institute Chicago. Her work uses recordings, writing, Black southern culture and voice to materialize emotions ranging from grief to joy.

In addition to being an artist, she is a passionate teacher who has worked with theaters and non profits across Los Angeles - helping students of all ages use their lived experience to make performances. She has exhibited and performed in New York NY, Los Angeles CA, Chicago IL, and Quebec City Canada. She is extremely proud to be a member of Chicago based artist collective Suspended Culture.

OSIRIS KHEPERA is a Chicago-bred, Black Queer playwright, poet, actor, teaching artist, director, producer, and activist. Osiris was most recently featured in The Pearl Cleage Festival in Bourbon at the Border, and in a workshop reading of Red Summer, both with MPAACT, and was a Top 8 Finalist in Definition Theatre Company’s Amplify! Festival. They were a part of the 2020-2022 Playwright's Collective at Timeline Theatre Company, and served as one of six inaugural Russ Tutterow Playwriting Fellows at Chicago Dramatists Theatre (2017-2019). Most recently their plays have appeared in the MPAACT Podcast Plays Series, the CIRCLE UP! Reading Series with Jackalope Theatre Company and the Chicago Inclusion Project, the National Black Theatre’s I AM SOUL Reading series, the Chicago Theatre Marathon Festival, the MOJOAA Reclamation Festival, and with Greatworks Children’s Theatre Company. They are also a recipient of a 2017 Chicago DCASE Individual Artist Grant for their play: The Legendary Nana Yaa Asantewaa and the War of the Golden Stool, or, They Is African Royalty Livin’ Off F*ckin’ Wilson. As an actor, they can be seen in the recurring role of Cameron/Da Mayor on MAX’s South Side (Bashir Sallahudin/Diallo Riddle). Other theatrical credits include Bootycandy (Windy City Playhouse), Rutherford’s Travels (Pegasus Players), Bars & Measures (PROP THTR), R.E.A.C.H. (Second City), The American Revolution (Theater Unspeakable and Lincoln Center), The FAG-Tionary, Relevant Hearsay: Stories From 57 (MPAACT), Harry & The Thief (Pavement Group), and Passing Strange (Bailiwick Chicago). Their poetry is published in “Illinois’s Best Emerging Poets 2018.” In 2021, they received both a Fellowship with the Mass Epiphany Project, The Artist Grant from The Reva and David Logan Foundation, and their prose was published in FRUIT BAT PRESS: PRESENTS A VERY CHICAGO DECEMBER.

Discopoet Khari B. is a spoken word musician and educator working internationally as both a performer and instructor in the literary arts. With a solid reputation for delivering powerful performances with intense instrumental accompaniment, Khari B.’s energetic nature is tied to growing up in Chicago’s House music culture and being the son of two educators, one being acclaimed woodwindist, Mwata Bowden. His inspirational and mentally rousing work has been recognized, hailed, and requested worldwide, staking out a place in the hearts of audiences and appealing to a diverse legion of fans, spanning multiple ages and ethnicities.

He’s co-produced three albums under the Discopoetry brand (WordSound: THIS AIN’T NO PUNK-ASSED POETRY, I’M A BAD MUTHA: The Rockstar Poetry Project, The Revolution Has Been Compromised: Honoring the words and works of Gil Scott-Heron) and appeared on several others. Published in a number of anthologies, Khari has released one book, “Haiku 4 Justice: Poetry In the Age of Social Media” with another, “Karen Must Be Stopped,” in physical, audio and video formats, pending. He’s co-produced an award-winning documentary on his annual arts & music production, “Thee Debauchery Ball,” established 2005, while developing educational content around the correlation between the expressions of Black sexuality and liberation that the event embodies. Khari B. has been an Artist-In-Residence at the prestigious Purdue University since 2006, continuing to create, educate, produce and perform wherever he is called under his philosophy “Make it happen.”

Rae Chardonnay Taylor is a DJ, Interdisciplinary Artist and Cultural Programs Producer from the West side Chicago, dedicated to encouraging a life of open-minded learning and expression. She began DJing in 2010 and has since held residencies at prominent venues in Chicago including the late Double Door, The Promontory and Soho House. She has circulated many private and public events to share her musical styling techniques opening for acts such as Janelle Monae, Jamila Woods, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Madison McFerrin, Megan Thee Stallion, OSHUN, Tiffany Gouche, CeCe Peniston, J Rocc, Just Blaze, Little Dragon, Big Freedia and many others.

As an arts manager, her involvement in programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Stony Island Arts Bank, School of the Art Institute and various arts organizations have catapulted her career in unimaginable ways. She is the Founder of Black Eutopia, a series of segmented programming intended to cultivate space for marginalized communities; and co-founder of the award winning Party Noire where joy for Black queer, trans and gender non-conforming people is centered.

Julian Green is a Chicago-based open format DJ. Their work is centered around their experiences as a young Black queer person, and it consistently concerns topics such as existence, belonging, community, love, joy, and care. The creative process behind their work involves drawing from their internal emotions, the external energies that guide them, and their Black, queer, worldwide influences. They channel each of these elements into a collection of sounds, which they hope enchants their listeners, makes them feel something, and propels them to move their bodies. On August 19th, Julian will be doing a set in collaboration with The.Blkroom and the Elastic Arts Performing Arts Center. You can also find Julian on Instagram and Soundcloud @julianmgreen

Chicago native Sunshine Lombre is a dancer and poet who specializes in expressing sensuality & emotional authenticity through her words & movements. Sunshine performs poetry and choreography while also curating seasonal artist showcases based around Black heritage. Sunshine strives to share her passion for Spoken Word and choreography while uplifting Black communities worldwide through teaching creative writing classes through “Poetry for Personal Power,” the Chicago Public Library system & other Arts Organizations. She’s been an opening act for Twista and has released her debut poetry album “Fading Away.”

A grandchild of twin migrations fleeing US imperialism in the American South and Puerto Rico that converged on Cleveland, OH, experimental sound artist and activist, olula negre, is a cellist, improviser, composer, and visual artist whose work is rooted in their Black American and Latinx heritage, queerness and their interests in speculative fiction/storytelling and cosmic workings. With a deep commitment to social justice, olula negre creates and interprets works that embody principles of radical honesty, self-love, and equity. They are enthusiastic about collaborating across genres and mediums and have played alongside dancers, visual artists, actors, and singer-songwriters, including regular collaborations with their brother, writer Bernard E. P. Harris.

In addition to their solo work, olula negre is a founding member of Mazumal, a duo committed to innovative performance that promotes inclusivity by addressing race, gender, inequality, and sustainability. Mazumal does this through commissions and interpretations of new works, collaborations with people of color, women, and LGBTQIA+ artists.

olula holds a Bachelor of Music from The Hartt School of Music at the University of Hartford, a Professional Performer’s Certificate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst where they studied with Astrid Schween, and a Master of Contemporary Music Performance from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee where they studied with Rhonda Rider. olula has been in residence at The Banff Centre for Art and Creativity, The Atlantic Center for the Arts, and currently with the Dark Matter Residency in Chicago, IL.

Adam Zanolini is a multi-instrumentalist, ethnomusicologist, writer, and arts organizer based in Chicago. He is the Executive Director of Elastic Arts Foundation in Chicago and former Associate Director of Arts for Art, presenter of the annual Vision Festival of avant-jazz in New York City. He is also co-founder of the Participatory Music Coalition. He is an active member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, and he serves on the Board of the Live the Spirit Residency, producer of the annual Englewood Jazz Festival. Adam plays flute, double bass, saxophone and other instruments, performing regularly with PMC, the AACM’s Great Black Music Ensemble, Sura Dupart's Sidepocket Experience, with Angel Bat Dawid and the Brothahood, and Gira Dahnee in addition to his own projects. He received his PhD in music with a certificate in Africana Studies from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 2016. Adam’s highest ambition is to be a community musician: to cultivate and share knowledge through music in order to help heal, strengthen, and empower the Black community.

Julian Terrell Otis is a genre spanning vocalist and performance artist engaged in creative, jazz, pop, and contemporary classical musical styles. He is currently devising a series of evening length performances featuring works by living composers of color, improvisation, electronics and movement. Last summer he revived Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King at the inaugural Bang on a Can All Star’s Loud Weekend! All the Pretty Flowers is his first recording project of improvised music and poetry created at the Banff International Jazz and Creative Music Workshop led by Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey. Julian originated the male soloist role in George E. Lewis’ chamber opera, Afterword has worked with Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble, Fay Victor, Lisa E. Harris, Angel Bat David, Imani Winds, and Renee Baker.Committed to community empowerment he leads an improvised jam for South Side Chicago communities called Self Care = Resistance!

Sharon Udoh is a gay, first-generation Nigerian-American composer, pianist, arranger, and vocalist. Her work abandons genre and is expansive, focusing on human complexity, order within chaos, and emotional connection. She sometimes takes the stage under the name Counterfeit Madison; her performances have been described as a warm bowl of soup, a tornado, a jalapeño pepper, a Jackson Pollock painting, a bulldozer, dangerous yet kind, and magnetic. She lives in the Midwest and has an absurd millennial addiction to sparkling water.