Performing Diaspora

Residency Programs

Incubate artists, change the world.

The work of Performing Diaspora artists is not easily categorizable, and the ways in which their work draws on or is rooted in tradition may take many forms. In this current moment we are interested in supporting artists that are drawing on tradition as a radical way to be responsive, inclusive, and equitable. We find ourselves with questions around how tradition can be a tool of anti-capitalism, anti-border control, anti-police violence, anti-homogenization, or anti-erasure. However, we are also interested in exploring beyond the polemic set by the frame of ‘anti.’ Therefore, we are also curious about how tradition is a tool of evolution? How is tradition alive? How does tradition move across space, time, boundaries and border? Now in its tenth year, this residency seeks to support artists whose work carries the story of a previous life and plants it in this time and space. In a time when record numbers of refugees seek asylum and the erasure of people of color’s experiences and lives is more visible than ever, the stories we carry in our minds and bodies are all the more important. What is your story of change?

The Performing Diaspora residency is made possible by support from the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, the Emmet R Quady foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Photo: From Performing Diaspora 2014, Nava Dance/Nadhi Thekkek, Photo courtesy of artist.