The Aquarian Project
A STORM BEFORE THE CALM

The Aquarian Project features Afro Roots Hop artist KWE -
in a multimedia dub poetry show and national tour that builds a bridge between poetry and ceremony.

A STORM BEFORE THE CALM blends hip hop, storytelling, stage craft, song and audio narrative to explore conceptions of self as racialized, gendered and politicized body, through the poet's eclectic trance formations.

A STORM BEFORE THE CALM deals with self-identity, race politics, economic and cultural colonialism as manifested through the pseudo-exploits of modern Western technocratic global domination. The story emerges as a choreo-poem weaving uplifting overtones of survival, hope and awakening in the spirit’s quest to be free.

This dub poetry ceremony provides a context to heal from the deep wounds affecting generations of Africans disenfranchised in modern cities of the Western world with every iteration of the spoken word.  

Hailing from Cameroon and Ghana respectively, KWE has lived in Oakland, California since 2007, drawing inspiration from the ancestors to reconnect this generation of young Afromericans living in the Western hemisphere to the wisdom of Africa.

Storyteller, Singer and Percussionist, KWE has contributed his art, rhythm and voice to the Quantum Soul Café – an online community radio project – and use digital multimedia and performance art as a tool for collective healing and personal trance formation.

KWE has hosted conferences, readings and talk shows on youth media, the Diaspora and consciousness evolution, compiling an expansive archive of audio conversations and oral wisdom from world-class artists, everyday sages and people of all ages and backgrounds. He has recorded over 100 songs and performed from Boston to LA, Aspen to Chicago.

The Aquarian Project National Tour brings A STORM BEFORE THE CALM to audiences across lines of race, politics and culture identity. KWE is looking to bring the production to college campuses, school auditoriums, and community centers to be experienced by, students and teachers, youth and adults alike. The tour will be hitting the road in CA, OR, NM, TX, IL, WI, CO, MA, NY, VA, MD, DC and FL from September 24th 2009 to March 2010. Join the magic in motion!

Now is the time to get involved if you are interested in A STORM BEFORE THE CALM coming to your community. You can help by locating a school/venue, securing funding, spreading the word about the show or connecting us to artists and organizations that would like to be part of the closing ritual ceremony. For details on the schedule, click here.

CONTACT US By Sending an Email to akwerius@gmail.com

For more information about Word.Sound.Life., visit www.wordsoundlife.ning.com

The Aquarian Project
STORM BEFORE CALM

STORM BEFORE THE CALM is a production and movement – a community catalyst – aimed to engage young and old alike in a praxis of transformation through poetry. THE AQUARIAN PROJECT is a rising tide to facilitate an intergenerational dialogue between the hip hop and civil rights generations to assist them in sharing resources, strategies, and visions that will empower them to thrive in this millennium.

Through artistic and synergistic components including a pre-workshop, closing ritual and an online social network, STORM BEFORE THE CALM connects common experiences of different audiences through a web of words, sound narratives and raw imagery.

Community Education through Performance The show builds on the urgent poetry of silenced voices. The art is raw, uncut and unapologetic in its depiction of the reality of a people under attack in its own nation. Few forums exist where people of color have the safe space to dialogue about the communal, educational and generational issues that matter most to them. STORM BEFORE CALM calls forth such a space.

With an organic set built solely from natural elements, the performance is transformed into a spiritual ritual where light and shadow retrace the ambiguities of self-identity in times of oppression and war.

Candle lights, stone altars, petals & leaves adorn the ritual space and surround the audience in a solemn tone, commemorating the injustices that humans can cause to the earth when our actions are not aligned with spirit. A clay basin of water at the heart of the space hints at our dependence on the Great Mother to sustain the flow of life.

An original and vivid soundscape featuring natural sounds, pre-recorded compositions accompany the rhythmic stage narrative. Live instrumentation including the soulful percussive vibrations of the djembe and balafon, sweeping ascents of the bamboo flute and precipitating beats of a rainstick.

A breathtaking visual score and poetic script using the cycles of initiation, growth, self-realization and rebirth as a metaphor to lead us through four central moments titled Abbey, Orchard, Castle and The Hermitage. The footage, vignettes and artwork depicted on the walls accentuate the choreographed movements performed behind a light cloth.

“The True Profession of Man,” the author of Siddhartha wrote, “is to find his way to himself.” The hologram of reality beckons us for a good daydream; pleading with our soul to spring forth its silent truth; challenging our mind to shed an assumed reality. The objective of A STORM BEFORE THE CALM is not only to inspire in people the will to trance form, but is also an act of inter-cession from this realm, to the ancestors.

Every Performance is preceded by a creativity workshop designed to critically address and respond to issues of concern to the local community. The goal of the pre-workshop is to generate solutions to be shared with the audience, turning the performance into an interactive dialogue. The messages are etched into clay and read by audience members during the live show.

A ceremony of word, sound and life Local artists, media-makers and student representatives of the Word.Sound.Life. social network will be featured in the pre-workshop to facilitate dialogues on art expression and garner support from audience members to join their initiatives.

Audience members have the chance to contribute their personal stories, poems and dreams to a growing archive of artistic testimonials collected by KWE, and made available to audiences nationwide (read more on wordsoundlife.ning.com and listen to audio excerpts on Quantum Soul).

Publications, materials and donation tables will be available after each ceremony. Toolkits include informational materials about the organizational activities linked to The Aquarian Project, sign-up sheets for the WSL social network for media learning, and handouts for upcoming events or group workshops, like the Annual Bridging the Gap Conference held at UC Berkeley, California.

Our goal is to build and share a culture of self-realization and community responsibility as well as help to create more opportunities for youth to become leaders of Compassion, Love, Peace, Unity & Freedom.