Join us in an evening of artistic celebration for Black History Month. The Black Lives Masquerade will begin in the Performing Arts Building Atrium, followed by a procession to Kaul Auditorium for a performance by Sebé Kan West African Drum and Dance Ensemble.

The Black Lives Masquerade is an honoring garment that includes an estimated fifty images of Black lives lost to racial injustice, police brutality, and gun violence. The BLMQ8 is site specific ritual, performance processional, restorative justice, and creative direct action. The project seeks to invoke healing, remembrance, elevation, awareness, and the eradication of police terror and racial injustice against Black people and those of African Diaspora Worldwide.

Rashad Pridgen is a multimedia performing artist, choreographer, creative director and innovation strategist. Rashad’s works span dance, theater, film, video, tech, mixed-media, fashion, and creative eco-systems. Recent works include: Today at Apple, Record A Global Street Dance with Apple Union Square San Francisco; artistic director of The Black Lives Masquerade short film with national showings at the San Francisco Public Library, Berkeley Art Museum, Duke University, and Portland Art Museum; director and choreographer of Ethos de Masquerade, a theatrical version of the Global Street Dance Masquerade in partnership with Camp Santos and Strand Theater SF; and masquerade collaborations with Sadie Barnett’s Eagle Creek Saloon presented at the SF LAB San Francisco and the Institute Of Contemporary Art Los Angeles. 

Sebé Kan is a local African drum and dance ensemble that weaves music and dance together in a vibrant celebration of culture. Founded in 2000 by Derrell Sekou Soumah Walker, Sebé Kan became a space for community and solace among Portlanders of the African Diaspora and began a youth-specific dance group in 2018. The collective performs at halftime shows at the Moda Center and at numerous schools in the Portland Metro area. They perform works from the West African nations of Guinea, Mali, and Ivory Coast.

Free and open to the public.