DreamLand Exhibitions

The DreamLand exhibitions began in Portland Oregon in the winter of 2019. I was still in recovery from The Very Bad Thing, but I wanted to sing and connect with others as a method of healing. Earlier that year I had played some street-art festivals and made enough connections to pull together my first "grass roots" shows. The owner of a local record store Speck's Records, saw one of my summer sets and was impressed. I saw it as an opportunity to pitch my ideas about the kinds of shows I wanted to see and he supported them! We were allowed to kick it & really groove in that nostalgic ass record shop and I'll always love him for that.  Entry is free as long as patrons have a food or otherwise essential donation for houseless families, people of all ages can join us in audience and performance. We try to have housing, child care and rehabilitation resources on site during shows. These exhibitions centered dreamwork and Black, Brown and Indigenous and LBGTQIA+ voices and stories. I went and saw a lot of live music and also scoured social media apps to scout artists I felt aligned with the themes, central to the mission of Anansi's Dream and the DreamLand project, which are:  centering and celebrating marginalized voices, wielding performance art as both resistance and remembrance, and sharing our authenticity through story telling, call-and-response, dance, poetry, painting and singing. The artists and performers photographed below are Ashi Danc (@ashidanca), Zai (@blackacidempire, many monikers), Ariston (@aristonv), myself (@inowearnomask) and two drummers named Peter (@whaleswhaling) & Aaron. If you happen to know Aaron's social media handle please let me know! I was not able to find it. All photo credits go to Jerry Jones  Unfortunately when the covid pandemic happened, the magic had to get a little slower.  These nights were probably some of my proudest. We were able to connect safely and intimately in a way I hadn't yet experienced. Now, I want to bring DreamLand Exhibitions to Saint Louis! DreamLand, wherever we are, is a safe space. If you let me know an artist or staff member has made you uncomfortable I will not hesitate to terminate their engagement. That being said, if you want to be booked for the show, or you're a venue interesting in partnering or volunteering your space, please don't be weird to our friends!! Send all inquiries to anansisdream@gmail.com with the subject line DREAMLAND EXHIBITION. ​Thank you.