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I will keep this message short and sweet – not because I don’t like goodbyes, but because I don’t believe in them. “At the Heart of Me” by Live Unchained featured artist, Paul Sika I have a friend that says, “all who are meant to meet, will meet again.” This expression means a lot to […]

Identity, power and fantasy. These are common themes emerging for many Diasporan artists with strong perspectives on their heritage, social reality and a radically better future. When Oneika Russell invited me to co-curate an alternative exhibition for her blog, Art: Jamaica,  in response to the Jamaica biennial, I wanted to acknowledge these ideas and the […]

In the spirit of magical realist films like “Eve’s Bayou,” Nijla Mumin’s “Deluge” blends coming of age drama and fantasy to explore traumatic memories. In a post BP oil spill New Orleans, 15-year old Tiana witnesses the mass drowning of her friends. After struggling with the decision not to jump in, she must decide if […]

The drama, layers and coherence of Delphine Diallo’s photography could lead you to believe the photos were meticulously planned and laboriously edited. But that’s not the case. The real effort goes into her own personal and spiritual growth, which Diallo says shapes all of her work, ‘Most of my shoots are intuitive and they can’t […]

On a sunny day in September, at a rooftop party in Brooklyn, we are all swaying slower now. We are watching intently – with all of us, and not just our eyes. Whippa, Fluent and Kateri join Jidenna, the Master of Ceremony, in raising crowd participation. In the background, Nana is playing the Kendrick Lamar […]

For some, writing comes naturally. Not just any writing, good writing. The writing others read and are moved by. The writing that acts like a mirror for people’s complicated hearts, complicated lives, offering both solace and illumination. These craftsmen and women are always asked about the source of their genius: How did you get to […]

What does a chemist and a television journalist have to with furniture design? At Live Unchained, we love people who forge novel paths, especially when these paths are not only new because of what they create, but also when they’re untried career and artistic trajectories in the lives of the people who tread them. It […]

A native of Detroit and a family of artists, Ingrid Lafleur is a dedicated creative whose work is intent on bringing art to the “masses.” An art curator, hosting shows and exhibitions in cities as far-flung as Paris and Johannesburg, Lafleur wants to make visual art accessible, as ubiquitous “as music or fashion.” Her art […]

There are some who find their niche in the vast world of art and creating and run with it. Far. They take the prosaic, something there, we all know, heard about, or even used, and they turn it into art or performance, a spectacle that draws people in. This is what Marawa did and does. […]

The story makes the headlines; the people pay attention-they tweet and share and spread the hashtags. Interest wanes, attention’s diverted. The story dies out. But it doesn’t. To the people involved, it doesn’t. On April 15th of this year, Boko Haram, an alleged* terrorist organization in northern Nigeria, kidnapped 230 girls from the Chibok Government Secondary […]