Janani Balasubramanian

We are really excited to be welcoming the extraordinary artist and scholar Janani Balasubramanian as our 2020 Visiting artist. Janani Balasubramanian is a writer, new media artist, and immersive theater maker based in New York City. Balasubramanian’s practice involves deep collaborations with astrophysicists, as well as engagement with both old storytelling forms and contemporary technologies…

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Poetry Workshop with Safia Elhilo

In the last month, IDA has had the honor to host three rising and prominent poets of color for workshops with the community. We are so grateful to have been able to work with these amazing poets to foster a space for creativity and storytelling on campus.   On January 24th, we shared space with Safia…

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Lunch and Conversation with Kimberly Drew

On Tuesday, October 22nd, Kimberly Drew, writer, social activist, and curator of “black art and experiences” graced us with her presence to reflect on her experiences working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and her decision to leave that space to focus on writing her first book. Ever so accessible and attentive, she shared a…

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We wear one another: gestures towards repatriation through performance, a talk by Tanya Lukin Linklater

Investigating histories of archaeology, anthropology and repatriation on Kodiak Island, Alaska, and the work of black and Indigenous thinkers and artists, Lukin Linklater will contextualize her practice in performance alongside and in relation to cultural belongings as gestures towards repatriation. She will speak to a specific work, We wear one another, 2019, a commission for…

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A Screening with Director Vincent Martell

Students gathered in community for Vincent Martell’s Artist Talk on Friday, February 22nd. Martell, a black, Chicago-based film director and creative, came to campus to screen the pilot episode of his upcoming web series Damaged Goods. The series itself revolves around four creatives of color in the Chicago queer, poc, art scene. The group was…

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