"Ile Omi" by Mz. Icar // Closing Reception and Artist Talk

Join us on Wednesday, June 19th 7:00 - 9:30pm at Studeō PAR- for the closing reception for "Ile Omi: House of Water" by the art collective, Mz. Icar. The artists will be joining us to give a talk on the work in this exhibition as well as their process more generally.

Doors open at 6:45pm.

Panel discussion at 7:15pm with Q&A and reception to follow.

About Mz. Icar:

Mz. Icar, an anonymous art collective predominantly comprised of Black Women, stands at the intersection of artistic innovation and societal transformation. The group's name, “racIzM,” spelled backward, serves as a guiding principle, symbolizing the group's mission to upend conventional constructs of gender and race. Mz. Icar recognizes these identifiers as fluid concepts, deeply influenced by the nuances of time, place, and context. They are not restrictions, but rather, perspectives through which the art collective interprets the world, explores identity, and drives the group's creative journey.

In Ile Omi: House of Water, the exploration of Afro-Futurism meets technology is combined with visual story telling and remarkable imagination.

Ile Omi: House of Water is a large scale, multi-channel immersive video installation that combines archival photography, AI-generated photographs, and a custom score to create a surrogate reality where visitors can explore alternative histories and futures. Inspired by intersectional African Diasporic culture, West African culture and chronophysics, the field of physics that specifically deals with the concept of time and time travel, the installation showcases a thriving underwater community of imagined people who are the descendants of the African souls lost during transatlantic slave voyages. The installation transports visitors to a futuristic world where these descendants have adapted to an underwater lifestyle and have formed a thriving, communal society.

About PAR-Projects:

Professional Artistic Research (PAR-) Projects’ mission is to empower diverse communities of people who believe in the arts. As educators, we provide workshops & classes related to career development & skills training. As artists, we enjoy hosting thought provoking exhibits & collaborations throughout the Greater Cincinnati Metro Area, but will travel to help advance the creative process of like-minded organizations.

PAR-Projects is currently in the midst of a major community development project in Northside, Cincinnati, that is transforming 3/4 of an acre of blighted land into a contemporary arts & education center. Within their campus they currently host a fine art gallery and a number of creativity-focused artist studios. In the coming months they will open their outdoor performance stage and outdoor movie theater. In the coming year or two, they will be opening a second gallery space and creating an outdoor venue, truly designed to give their communities a place to gather.