Dreams, Diaspora, and Destiny

DJ King Britt and artist Joshua Mays led a one-night-only performance on October 14 in West Philadelphia’s Malcolm X Park that imagined a youth monument to the future. In the summer of 2017, they worked in collaboration with students from Mural Arts Philadelphia’s Art Education program to draw on historical archives, collect sound samples, and interpret Afro-diasporic images of transcendence. The result was a “monumental time portal,” according to the artists, that both honored ancestral legacies and envisioned utopian futures through sound, poetry, projection, and visual art. The vinyl banners created for this performance were on display at the Malcolm X Park Lab during open hours throughout Monument Lab.

Collaborators: King Britt (Electronics), Joshua Mays (Visual Artist), Chuck Treece (Guitartronics), John Morrison (Electronics), Heru Shabaka-Ra (Trumpet), Rich Hill (Upright Bass), and Lyrispect (Poet).

Major support for Monument Lab projects staged in Philadelphia’s five squares provided by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. An expanded artist roster and projects at additional neighborhood sites made possible by the William Penn Foundation. Lead corporate support provided by Bank of America. Generous additional support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Location Note: Work is no longer on view at this location.