Diaspora Dwelling

The First Annual Azadi Folk School Art Exhibition: Diaspora Dwelling — Reclaiming Land, Ancestry, & Memory This exhibition explores the five stages of decolonization in conversation with Hawaiian sovereignty activist Poka Laenui’s framework, which identifies five interconnected stages: Recovery, Mourning, Dreaming, Commitment, and Action. Immerse yourself in the works of local featured artists Paul Bonokollie, Alataria, and Annelise Duque, whose practices explore BIPOC identity, healing, deconstruction, ancestry, and the complexities of the diasporic experience. Through painting, textile, mixed media, and other forms of creative practice, the exhibition invites us to consider what it means to recover cultural memory, mourn what has been lost, dream of what could be, commit to preserving knowledge, and take action to carry these traditions forward. Diaspora Dwelling creates space for reflection, connection, and conversation around the ways we inhabit our histories, cultures, bodies, and relationships to land.