Free Music: The Illusion of Liberation

Join Eaton House and Washington, DC-based artists, as well as Eaton Resident artists, Khadija Jahmila and Michael Bowie, to celebrate Free Music: The Illusion of Liberation, currently on view in Eaton House, the creative coworking space within Eaton DC.

Curated by Khadija and Michael, in collaboration with Eaton DC, the exhibit features the artwork of: Autumn Spears, Brianna Pippens, August Lee, Augusta G Brown, Dania Abdalla, Kendra Pascoe Morrison, Maya Sumile, Urshula Dunn, Amber Janay Cooper, Bianca Brown, Jay Delnegro, Naina Gupta and Khadija Jahmila.

Additionally, Free Music features music created by Kenn Starr & Kev Brown, Nica Albertson, Marissa Zechinato, Krista O'Connell, Autumn LaBella, Fateful Encounter, Tough Johnnie, Jenna Camille, Aaviious, Barry Moton, Nia Monaé, Atanga Mancho, Night Train 357, Lef? (D. Phillips), Superficial, Patrick King, Pac man Dre and Sable Drive.

The program will include an opportunity to meet Khadija and Michael, as well as the curated visual and musical artists featured in the exhibit.

about the exhibit:

Free Music: The Illusion of Liberation

By Michael Bowie and Khadija Jahmila

Curated in collaboration with Eaton House

Music has long been a force of freedom, resistance, refuge, and change. Yet in the digital age, where access feels limitless, artists remain bound by an industry that capitalizes on their work. The show confronts the contradiction of creative freedom, exposing how corporate control and economic inequity limit artistic autonomy.

A collaboration between Michael Bowie of Distrik Kollective and Khadija Jahmila, Free Music features the works of DMV musicians and visual artists who challenge the myth of creative freedom within a system built on extraction. Streaming platforms and cultural commodification force artists to navigate a landscape where their work is consumed but rarely compensated. Through visual art and sound, the exhibition reveals the unseen labor, cultural erasure, and financial constraints that shape the artist’s reality.More than a critique, the exhibition is a reclamation of artistic autonomy and creative agency.

follow:

@distrik.kollective

@khadija.jahmila

@eatonhotel.dc