How do queer artists create spaces of freedom-not just for survival, but for creative process?
Amid the federal administration’s threats to sanctuary jurisdictions, MovingGround initiated Sanctuary Spaces, an art-action network to share narratives and shed light on people’s lives directly impacted through conversation, performance, and co-creating live and experiential Sanctuary Spaces together. From Window, the Black lesbian vocalist and author of Black Lesbian Bedtime Stories, to Mister Lady Zen, an internationally acclaimed composer, cabaret artist, poet, and queer elder. Together these artists use sound, word, and community to build sanctuaries. Meanwhile, Najee Rene aka “Casino,” the Berlin-based musician and podcaster behind BABE: Black American Berlin Expat, amplifies diasporic voices across borders.
Together with Freedom Festival and the Freedomistas, Lisa Aurora Calderon, co-founder of Naming Gallery and ToMaRo Gallery invited MovingGround Artistic Director Krista DeNio to co-moderate this panel where we ask the panelists to share: How do we create Sanctuary, Safety, and Protection? How does art become a tool for peace in the face of chaos? How do we preserve sanity while fighting for liberation? And what does it mean to teach, create, and thrive when governments change abruptly?
Join us for a conversation on music, memory, and the radical act of making room for ourselves.
CO-ORGANIZERS / MODERATORS:
- Lisa Aurora – ToMaRoGallery.com
- Krista DeNio – MovingGround.org
PANELISTS/ ARTISTS
- Window – Vocalist, Singer Songwriter, Artist, and Author of Black Lesbian Bedtime Stories
- Najee Rene aka “Casino“ – The Emperor’s Tarot and BABE Black American Berlin Expat
- Mister Lady Zen- Internationally acclaimed composer, cabaret artist, poet, and queer elder. Learn more about her work here.
