Obi Mbu (The Movie) - Igbo Creation Myth Brought to Life by Dr. Mikael Owunna and Dr. Marques Redd

Описание: For More on Obi Mbu and the works of Mikael and Marques Visit MikaelOwunna.com visit the site for
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(Obi Mbu is inspired by Nze Chukwukadibia Nwafor's Leopards of the Magical Dawn)

For Njotu (TheMedicineShell's New Yam celebration) I interviewed Marques Redd and Mikael Owunna on their groundbreak re-imagining of Odinachi Nne Ebere, the Igbo creation myth that tells the story of how Chi na Eke created the universe. By use of trance meditation, by visual artists Marques and Mikael collaborated with the spirits of Nnechukwu, and the Chi to bring this ancestral Igbo cosmology to life.

In this discussion we cover how to use ancestral cosmological wisdom in film making, storytelling, photography and performance art, Obi Mbu the primordial house, and facing challenges to the spaces traditionally held by queer people as contemporary attitudes clash with the ancestral worldview.

Dr. Marques Redd is the Senior Director of Graduate Advising and Engagement for the Humanities at the University of Pittsburgh. He received his A.B. in Social Studies and African & African American Studies from Harvard University and his Ph.D. in English from the University of California-Berkeley. He has worked as a Visiting Professor at Texas State University (English) and the University of Notre Dame (Africana Studies) and as an Assistant Professor at Marquette University (English). His peer-reviewed articles have centered on issues in the fields of African American literature, British Romanticism, global literature, and African cosmology.

Prior to arriving at the University of Pittsburgh, Redd was the Assistant Dean of Instruction and Student Affairs at the University of California-Berkeley College of Natural Resources, where he oversaw undergraduate education for approximately 2,400 students pursuing 20 majors and minors offered across 5 academic departments. He managed a team of 10 full-time staff, 5 work-study students, 18 peer advisors, and 3 student ambassador leaders. In addition to this work in higher education administration, Redd spent two years as the founder and managing partner of an LLC that provided a wide range of editorial and publication services and content creation for animation and media projects. He also has experience in the areas of non-profit management (AIDS Project East Bay), politics (Office of the Governor of Georgia), and investment banking (Goldman Sachs).
(Source: humanitiescareers.pitt.edu/staff)

Dr. Mikael Owunna is a queer Nigerian American multi-media artist and engineer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Exploring the intersections of visual media with engineering, optics, Blackness, and African cosmologies, his work seeks to elucidate an emancipatory vision of possibility that pushes people beyond all boundaries, restrictions, and frontiers.

Owunna’s work has been exhibited across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America and been collected by institutions such as the Nasher Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Equal Justice Initiative, Duke University Pratt School of Engineering, and National Taiwan Museum. His work has also been featured in media ranging from the New York Times to CNN, NPR, VICE, and The Guardian. He has lectured at venues including Harvard Law School, World Press Photo (Netherlands), Tate Modern (UK), and TEDx.
(Source: MikaelOwunna.com)

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