Returning to the Root is a live public performance of poetry and music featuring Hispanic and Indigenous artists in downtown Kansas City.

WHO: A Nation in Exile with performing artists Amado Espinoza, Jose Faus, Marisa Grady, Robert Bordeaux, and Pedro X. Molina.

WHAT: A live performance showcase of artists raising funds for AIRR.

WHEN: Thursday, September 14, 2023. Doors open at 5:30 PM. Performances at 6:00 PM.

WHERE: 21c Museum Hotel (219 W 9th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64105)

A Nation In Exile is a series of events that brings together people, artists, and organizations from all walks of life to continue the process of healing our state of collective, relational and spiritual (mental) exile.

Returning to the Root:

Sitting at the intersection of Indigenous, African and European relations, Latine culture begins our journey toward examination, reclamation and revival. Featuring performances by Amado Espinoza, Jose Faus, Marisa Grady, Robert Bordeaux, and Pedro X. Molina, Returning to the Root will be showcasing Hispanic and Indigenous artists who turn an unflinching eye toward our collective and individual condition of exile or bask in the light of reclaiming home. This one day event will be in partnership with AIRR. 100% of ticket sales will be donated to AIRR, who will also be able to promote and invite the community into their work. Returning to the Root will take place at 21c Museum Hotel.

About 21c Kansas City

21c Museum Hotel Kansas City includes a 120-room boutique hotel, contemporary art museum, and The Savoy restaurant. 21c Kansas City is located between the Power & Light District and River Market downtown-the perfect base to explore the City of Fountains. The property offers 8,000 square feet of exhibition space featuring rotating, curated contemporary art exhibitions free of charge, seven days a week. 21c Kansas City has 19 suites, including the rooftop 21c Suite with expansive views of downtown. The Savoy offers a dining experience with deep ties to the community, featuring seasonal ingredients and products from local farmers, distilleries, and family-owned businesses.

Contemporary art is the core of 21c.

As North America’s only multi-venue museum dedicated to collecting and exhibiting art of the 21st century, 21c Museum brings a new cultural resource to the city’s vibrant art scene. From rotating, curated exhibitions, to site-specific installations and cultural programming, 21c Museum offers the local and traveling community unprecedented access to the work of some of today’s emerging artists. Our Museum is open to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

Instagram - @21ckc

Website -https://www.21cmuseumhotels.com/kansascity/

MEET THE ARTISTS

Robert Bordeaux is a Siċaƞġu Lak̇ot̄a descendant who’s community is the Rosebud Reservation. He is a writer and poet whose work mainly focuses on our relationship with land, plant and animal relatives, and each other. His passions lie in language, culture, and land reclamation for the Siċaƞġu Lak̇ot̄a Oyate.

Amado Espinoza is a Bolivian multi-instrumentalist, composer, educator, and native instrument builder. He was the recipient of the Folk Alliance International 2022 Spirit of Folk award, a 2019 Lighton Foundation International Artist Grant, and the 2017 Charlotte St. Foundation Performing Arts Fellowship. Amado has opened TEDxKC, and played at Carnegie Hall with Ensemble Iberica. He has taught a masterclass at Berklee College of Music. Look out for the debut of his new meditation album. www.amadoespinoza.com

Jose Faus is an independent teacher/mentor, writer, performer, And painter with an interest in the role of artists as catalysts for community building.. He is a co-founder of the Latino Writers Collective and sits on the boards of The Latino Writers Collective, Charlotte Street Foundation and the Full Frame Initiative. His writing appears in numerous anthologies. His chapbook This Town Like That was released by Spartan Press. His second book of poetry The Life and Times of Jose Calderon was published by West 39 Press.

Pedro Xavier Molina, better known as PxMolina, is a Nicaraguan cartoonist and journalist whose work has been published by national and international outlets and magazines for over two decades.

His work focuses on political and social issues, denouncing human rights abuses and advocating for individual and collective rights. He is currently living in exile in the US, after the Ortega regime’s crackdown on dissent intensified in 2018.

His work has received numerous awards, including the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent 2023, the Maria Moors Cabot 2019 Prize from Columbia University (USA), the 2021 Gabo Award for Excellence in journalism from GABO Foundation and the Excellence in Journalism/Cartooning Award 2018 granted by the Inter-American Press Association

Marísa Adame Grady is what you get when parents push law school but there’s a prima-hermana (cousin-sister) constantly playing showtunes. Marísa houses her original projects within her small business, Colibrósa Productions. She has two poetry books released, and two short films to be released in later 2023. She is a Writing Resident at Charlotte Street and has been published in Crab Fat Magazine, Mad Swirl, the Glass: Poets Resist series, and more. Learn more at www.colibrosaproductions.com.

ORGANIZING PARTNER:

AIRR is striving to create a network that supports and empowers the undocumented immigrant community in the greater Kansas City area. The network provides tools and resources for people to be able to navigate their lives with confidence and pride. No person should live in fear of being torn apart from their family or home.