Sounds of the Diaspora
Projects
Sounds of the Diaspora: Ode to Joy Festival
Sounds of the Diaspora: an Ode to Joy Festival, held on March 7 2025 at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, transformed the Gutman Conference Center into a vibrant sanctuary of collective joy, healing, and freedom dreaming. Rooted in the concept of "joy as resistance," the event featured musical performances and workshops, movement and breakdance workshops, six interactive art-making stations, and a panel discussion exploring joy, creativity, and social justice. The event created a rare and transformative space of expression and connection, amplifying voices and visions that are typically sidelined in Harvard and the greater Boston area, and standing as a testament to the power of co-creation, joy and radical imagination.
As the visual designer and logistics manager for the festival, I played a key role in shaping both the aesthetic and experiential aspects of the event. I oversaw the logistics of sourcing and organizing the decoration and craft materials, ensuring that the space reflected the care, creativity and community that defined an Ode to Joy. In addition, I:
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Illustrated portraits of the panelists for personalized "Thank You" cards
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Designed the spatial plan for co-creating our event space, featuring a central joy wall, surrounding dream walls with prompts such as "What brings you joy now?", "What brings you joy in the future?", "What is freedom to you and your community?" and "What moves you?", and encouraging participants to draw directly on tablecloths at every table.
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Co-facilitated three activation tables
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A collage station with the prompt "Create a visual story of how Art, Activism and Relationships helped you heal."
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A live portrait station
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A clay memory-recreation station titled "Hands of Heritage: Sculpting Diaspora Memories"
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Sounds of the Diaspora x Black Policy Conference Wellness Event
At the Sounds of the Diaspora x Black Policy Conference Wellness Event held at the Harvard Kennedy School, I served as the visual designer and logistics manager, playing a key role in preparing materials, setting up the physical space, and facilitating the collage-making and "Letter to Malcolm X" section during the event. Centered around the theme "Rest is Resistance", the event invited participants to explore joy, freedom, and movement through a sequence of creative activities, starting with a "build-a-phrase" activity facilitated by Malaika and culminating in a reflective collage exercise. In inviting participants to write/collage/design letters addressed to Malcolm X, participants are prompted to reflected on his enduring legacy and its impact on their personal journeys in pursuing social action.
Envisioning Something Out of Nowhere: Vision Board and Open Mic Night
As a part of HOPE Awareness Week, Envisioning Something out of Nowhere: Vision Board and Open Mic Night invites attendees to an evening of radical imagination and creative resistance focused on advocating for carceral justice, supporting reentry, and collective healing. The event invites participants to build visions of liberation through a hands-on vision board experience guided by prompts exploring abolition, reintegration, and educational justice. Themes and relevant prompts are rotated around six collage tables, where participants are invited to reflect on the school-to-prison pipeline, reintegration & reentry, education in carceral spaces, freedom dreams and alternatives to incarceration, as well as their own collective vision. In the spirit of collective healing, participants have the opportunity to contribute to a living Freedom Playlist, and map out their dreams for carceral alternatives on our interactive walls.
