it be your own people

muthi reed presents it be your own people, a multichannel video installation and audio score.

Produced by Scribe Video Center for the North Philadelphia History Festival.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

ABOUT THE PROJECT:

it be your own people is a cinematic assembly of reference materials contextualizing the love needed to thrive particular to people in a city called Philadelphia, and even more particular to Black North Philadelphians. We make a shrine for ourselves as descendants channeling the energy of those millions of Black folx who left the american South, fleeing the predetermined violence of that space. Traveling a calibrating sequencing of images and symbols, we generate a shrine for the lovers- my maternal Grandparents who met in the 1940s as temporary residents and newly immigrated UpSouth workers at the Divine Lorraine Hotel. Media materials are assembled, disassembled, and assembled again to articulate the world of its subjects. The calibrating environment is created in collaboration with an ensemble of writers, family members, technicians, and rhythm keepers. This work is a meditation of relationship, intervention, devotion, critical fabulation, chromotherapy, ecology, possibility, desire, and difficulty.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

muthi reed is an ethnographic artist living and working in Philadelphia, PA (Lenapehoking) and New Orleans, LA (Bulbancha). Working in sound, visual media, public art, and design, their work explores rhythm, memory, gesture, embodiment, and sound. They use personal and public information and ephemera to create speculative situations that can inspire healing and release from past pain and a portal into future possibilities.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:

The North Philadelphia History Festival (NPHF) is a cultural celebration of the African American and Puerto Rican communities in North Philadelphia. Across four days, historic sites along Ridge Avenue, North Broad Street, and other locales will be transformed into living exhibits created by artists, historians, curators, and other cultural workers. These multimedia projects and events explore the emergence and impact of these communities in the 19th and 20th centuries.

All events will be free and open to the public. Visit Scribe’s website to learn more here.

Lead support for the North Philadelphia History Festival is provided by the William Penn Foundation.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

KNOW BEFORE YOU GO:

RSVP and Entry:

RSVP is not required. Installation is viewable from the sidewalk outside of the Divine Lorraine, 699 N. Broad Street.

Public Transportation:

• Broad St & Ridge Av (4 Bus)
• Ridge Av & Melon St (61 Bus)
• Broad St & Fairmount Ave (B1 Subway)

Also check out other Arts events in Philadelphia, Festivals in Philadelphia, Health & Wellness events in Philadelphia.