Photo by Ryan Collerd.
Jaamil Olawale Kosoko
jaamil olawale kosoko is a multi-spirited Nigerian American author, performance artist, and curator of Yoruba and Natchez descent originally from Detroit, MI. Their book Black Body Amnesia: Poems and Other Speech Acts was released in Spring of 2022. Kosoko is also a 2022 MacDowell Fellow, 2020 Pew Fellow in the Arts, 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Choreography, 2017-19 Princeton Arts Fellow, 2019 Red Bull Writing Fellow, 2018 NEFA NDP Production Grant recipient, 2017 MAP Fund recipient, and 2017 Cave Canem Poetry Fellow. Their creative practice draws from Black study and queer theories of the body, weaving together visual performance, lecture, ritual, and spiritual practice.
Their live art works Chameleon (The Living Installments) premiered virtually in April 2020, Séancers (2017) and the Bessie nominated #negrophobia (2015) have toured internationally, appearing in major festivals including Tanz im August (Berlin), Moving in November (Finland), Within Practice (Sweden), TakeMeSomewhere (UK), Brighton Festival (UK), Oslo Teaterfestival (Norway), and Zürich MOVES! (Switzerland), among others. Additionally, Kosoko lectures regularly at Princeton University, Stockholm University of the Arts, and Master Exerce ICI-CCN in Montpellier, France. In Fall 2020, they were appointed the 3rd annual Alma Hawkins Visiting Chair in the Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance at UCLA. Connect with jaamil on IG at jaamil_means_beauty
2019 Artist-in-Residence,
Faculty,
MELT Faculty,
Artists of Color Council Former and Founding Member,
Studies Project Participant,
Festival Spring 2015 Curator,
Fall 2019 [email protected] Artist,
Winter 2021 [email protected] Artist
Upcoming Classes & Events
Past Classes & Events
(Postponed) Movement Research at the Judson Church |
January 17, 2022 | performance |
MELT – Creating Your Biomythography: An Interdisciplinary Performance Lab |
Jan 8 – Jan 10, 2020 | melt |
Movement Research at the Judson Church |
January 06, 2020 | performance |
MELT – The Transgressive Body |
January 18, 2019 | melt |
MELT – The Transgressive Body |
January 13, 2019 | melt |
MELT – The Transgressive Body |
January 13, 2019 | melt |
MELT – The Transgressive Body |
Jan 7 – Jan 10, 2019 | melt |
MELT—Deconstructing Perceptions |
Jan 10 – Jan 14, 2018 | melt |
Diversity and Accountability: A conversation with the MR Artists of Color Council |
November 02, 2016 | event |