University of Michigan Africa Festival of Arts: Day Two

19556 Grand River Avenue,Detroit MI 48223

08 April, 2023

Description

The University of Michigan African Graduate Student Association presents the inaugural Africa Festival of Arts on April 7-8th 2023. This two-day affair will feature showcases and works from a variety of African artists to celebrate and share African art with the Ann Arbor and Detroit communities. Our theme for the festival is “Saltwater Demands a Psalm ''. Our festival headliner is Kweku Abimbola, a UM alumnus from the Helen Zell Writer’s program. Kweku will be debuting his first full-length poetry collection , Saltwater Demands a Psalm, for which our festival theme is named. The début collection received the First Book Award from the Academy of American Poets in 2022. Other featured artists include a dance performance and workshop from Dr. Tawanda Chabikwa, an interdisciplinary artist-scholar and Assistant Professor University of Texas El Paso, fashion designer, Hawi Sisay Midekssa and many more. This festival is a celebration of African art and it offers an immersive exploration of several themes of African and black life and culture through different mediums using water as a metaphor. The performances include expressions of joy, injustice, pain, and hope as encapsulated by water’s fluidity. The festival will take place at the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) in Ann Arbor on April 7th and the black-owned Norwest Gallery in Detroit on April 8th. Tickets are limited at the Norwest Gallery on April 8th! Secure your tickets soon!