Dust to Dirge: An Earth Elegy

Dust to Dirge: An Earth Elegy

Nov. 9 | 5:30 p.m.
Performance by Ashanti Chaplin and Gabriel Royal
Eleanor Kirkpatrick Main Gallery
Reserve free tickets here

In this meditative piece, Ashanti Chaplin unwraps her ArtNow: The Soul Is a Wanderer work Earth Elegy, accompanied by an original score composed and performed by Gabriel Royal. Earth Elegy is an installation comprised of video, aural, sculptural and material impressions of the thirteen historic Black towns in Oklahoma: Boley, Brooksville, Clearview, Grayson, Langston, Lima, Red Bird, Rentiesville, Summit, Taft, Tatums, Tullahassee and Vernon. Collaborating with community members and civic leader, Chaplin collected clay, soil, sound and video documentation from each town. The obelisk — an earthen element that references its ancient purpose of recording the history of a place — is made with clay collected from the thirteen towns.

Dust to Dirge: An Earth Elegy is presented in connection with ArtNow: The Soul Is a Wanderer, on view in the Eleanor Kirkpatrick Main Gallery.

Watch an interview with Ashanti Chaplin and Gabriel Royal, including clips of the performance, below.