Artist
Okwae Miller

Project Title
 ‘a shy, [RED] moon’

Grant Amount
$2,000
Margaret Kargbo Artist as Activist Grant

Website
www.okwaemiller.com

Project Description

Okwae A. Miller’s, ‘a shy, [RED] moon,’ is an integrated multi-media choreographic response combatting the complex and volatile attitudes of a silent killer that has succeeded in claiming the lives of millions of black gay men, the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Understanding that HIV/AIDS is no longer a death sentence, we must acknowledge the crumbling and discouraging impact of stigma on kept secrets, personal sickness and community. Employing investigative qualitative research, this work follows the HIV-positive lives of four black gay men within the city of Atlanta. Connected by their status, Miller will identify with the literal rearrangement, painful past and the powerful gesture of healing from the awkwardness and discomfort surrounding being infected and accepted. Additional research includes, Fighting Words by Charles M. Smith; research studies from the Center for Disease Control; and HIV-positive author, Danez Smith, collection of poems, “Don’t Call Us Dead.”

Engineered in collaboration with composer Daniel Scoggins and lighting designer Noah Hill; Okwae A. Miller retaliates against stigma through a provocative montage of movement, projections, and original sound to ascend towards sustainable attitudes around sexual wellness, health and restoration of community. ‘a shy, [RED] moon’ will be performed at The Bakery Atlanta in April 2020.