In partnership with Experimental Sound Studio (ESS), which houses a large portion of Sun Ra’s archival material, this event activates the Sun Ra Archive.
It was after moving to Chicago that Herman Poole Blount changed his name to Le Sony’r Ra and became the legendary artist the we know today—Sun Ra—embarking on an interstellar, experimental musical journey lasting decades.
In partnership with Experimental Sound Studio (ESS), which houses a large portion of Sun Ra’s archival material, this event activates the Sun Ra Archive by inviting sound selectors and visual artists to use a set of archival materials picked by the MCA’s Community Engagement Manager Otez Gary and ESS.
For this first iteration, curator and DJ Bonita Appleblunt mixes contemporary sounds such as house and Afro house music into audio works from the archive. Then, performer and experimental sound artist Haruhi takes several live performances from the 1970s in Detroit and Chicago along with inserts from the 1986 VHS Calling Planet Earth and reworks them to coincide with the audio piece.
This program is organized in partnership with Experimental Sound Studio and Otez Gary, Community Engagement Manager, with the Community Engagement Team at the MCA.
