On Saturday, April 21, 2018 artists Frank Sherlock, Trapeta Mayson, Kinan Abou-afach and Dr. Jay Fluellen shared the stage to present new work inspired by the words and artwork that make-up our An Immigrant Alphabet installation. Our audience enjoyed words from Trapeta Mayson read from her array of works, closing with her commissioned poem We Are All Trees Here, accompanied by Kinan ABou-afach, Jay Fluellen and Hafez Kotain. Following her reading, Philadelphia Poet Laureate Frank Sherlock performed a series of provocative works, including the new poem Yesterday Is How We Spell Tomorrow.
We then moved into a participatory poetry workshop, where our audience followed the prompts; “My journey has been…”, “I knew I arrived when…” and “I remember I recall…” leading participants to work both together and independently to create poems of their own. Some of the audience members wrote –
I remember I recall soft singing, ancestral melodies – traveling through vocal chords of fellow choir members. My journey’s been complicated, unmapping my heart strings – deconstructed symphony of her smile. I felt like I’d arrived when I kissed her.
I felt like I arrived when I found out where I was going. I remember I recall my old days. My journeys been tough.
Our afternoon ended with the premiere of new compositions by both Kinan Abou-afach and Dr. Jay Fluellen. Accompanied by vocalist Valerie Gay, Fluellen’s piece titled Across Imaginary Lines engaged the audience with powerful lyrics and Gay’s stunning vocals. The program ended with Kinan, Jay and Hafez Kotain on percussion as they left guests with the tunes of Sama’i Hijaz Garip and Blueprint in the Sky.
Enjoy this video excerpt from the event here!
A special thank you to all who attended and to the Philadelphia History Museum for being our generous host!
Major support for this project: Knight Foundation, The Barra Foundation, PNC Arts Alive, The Philadelphia Foundation and The William Penn Foundation
