amplifies it, doubles, trebles it is a site-specific, multimedia performance series featuring transgenre, experimental sound artists, and performers. Program founder kelechi agwuncha envisions and constructs a new framework for restaging the work of sound artists through public activations—drawing on experimental spatial approaches found in genres like experimental music, disco, punk, and Jamaican dub (all of which sought to create unified air spaces, as explored in Micah Silver’s book Figures in Air: Essays Towards a Philosophy of Audio). The performances integrate video installations, poetry, sound, and lighting to communicate in a language of possibility that connects with nature and open-air spaces. This work redefines how we imagine the act of listening by generating new spatial conditions.

“Open-air space,” as referenced by activist and singer Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon in a 1991 PBS special with Bill Moyers, on the power of sound and air: “Sound is a way to extend the territory you can affect. People can walk into you long before they get close to your body. And certainly, communal singing is a way of announcing, ‘we’re here, this is real.’ So anyone who enters that space, as long as they’re singing, cannot change the air in that space. The song will maintain the air as your territory.”

This program is presented in Partnership with Some Serious Business.

About the Artists

Bo Hwang is an artist and writer working with poetry, movement, and narrative. Recent works include Squat Practice, an essay-poem collection on tropical fecundity and density as coverage (Finalist for the 2024 Essay Press Chapbook Contest); and abalone, a poetry performance, object, and chapbook (forthcoming from Counterpath in 2025). Other writing and performance can be found at Visible Binary, The Poetry Project, Wildness, Denver Quarterly’s FIVES, and Bombay Gin. Hwang has taught movement workshops at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics (where she was the 2022 Anselm Hollo Fellow), and at the Poetry Project. She was born in the US and grew up in Indonesia.

Instagram: @bohwang__

Ryan Dennison (he/him/they/them) is a Diné multidisciplinary artist from Tohatchi, New Mexico. Dennison's practice in art/sound performance reflects Indigenous queer brown boy love, dreams, intimacy, and entanglement while negotiating space in land poems and queer body constellations of intimacy

Instagram: @dennisonry

kelechi agwuncha (they/them) is an Igbo-American multimedia artist who reanimates archival material, documentary, and video art by using percussive force as connective tissue. As a former athlete, their work also explores athletic gestures and spatiality as a rehearsal of play. Their approach to visual media and sound-making often prioritizes live manipulations of the image and incorporates outdoor, public sites—and the people who occupy them—directly into the work, in real-time. kelechi has done live audio-visual performances through spaces that include the Chicago Architectural Biennial, Currents New Media Festival, Santa Fe Noise Ordinance, and Black Harvest Film Festival.

Instagram: @one800lifealert

(Photo by Louie Perea)

Ibrahima Fofana (he/him), widely known as Soriba, was born and raised in Guinea, West Africa, where he was immersed in a rich cultural tapestry of drummers, dancers, and musicians from a young age. His early experiences were shaped by the traditional Mandeng music of his homeland, where he honed his skills under the guidance of esteemed mentors. Soriba plays the eight-string N’goni, a traditional hunter’s harp, which serves as a vital link to his cultural heritage.

In 2009, Soriba made the transformative journey to the United States, where he has since dedicated himself to teaching and performing, both locally and internationally. His passion for sharing the rhythms and stories of his ancestors has led him to direct the Wassa Drum and Dance Ensemble, a vibrant collective that showcases the beauty and complexity of West African music and dance.

One of Soriba’s significant contributions to the community is the annual WASSA WASSA African Dance & Drum Festival held in Santa Fe, which he hosts. This festival serves as a platform for cultural exchange, bringing together artists and enthusiasts to celebrate African traditions through workshops, performances, and collaboration.

Through his work, Soriba strives to preserve and revitalize the rich musical heritage of Guinea, while also educating audiences about the cultural significance of the art forms he represents. His performances are not just artistic expressions; they are a celebration of life, community, and the enduring power of music to connect people across different backgrounds. Soriba continues to honor the legacy of his ancestors while inspiring future generations.

Instagram: @soribadrums
Facebook: facebook.com/wassaensemble

Chuquimamani-Condori (it/its) makes music by combining the traditional drum and ceremonial music from their Pakajaqueño family, with caporales, kullawada, and huayño. They describe their music as "the sound of our water ceremonies. . . forty bands playing their melodies at once to recreate the cacophony of the first aurora and the call of the morning star Venus.”

Instagram: @chuquimamani_condori