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Mali has long brown hair. She wears a khaki shirt and a long earing. She poses next to earthy sculptures that hang from the ceiling.

Mali Obomsawin with sculpture by Jo Povi Romero, Pojoaque Pueblo | photo by Nolan Altvater, Passamaquoddy Tribe

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Grant Recipient

Mali Obomsawin

Mali Obomsawin with sculpture by Jo Povi Romero, Pojoaque Pueblo | photo by Nolan Altvater, Passamaquoddy Tribe

Location
Portland, ME
CreativeGround
View Grantee on CreativeGround
Digital Presence
Artist Website
Project Title
Sweet Tooth
Fiscal Year Awarded
2022
Grant or Program
New Work New England
Grant Amount
$15,000

Mali Obomsawin makes her composer-bandleader debut with her new work Sweet Tooth, a suite for Indian Country. Weaving her original compositions and arrangements with archival pieces from Wabanaki First Nation, Sweet Tooth finds exciting musical intersections that highlight Obomsawin’s deep knowledge of rock, jazz, and folk traditions. It juxtaposes Wabanaki stories and songs passed down for generations in her community with new compositions addressing contemporary Indigenous life, resistance, blood politics, continuity, love and rage. Obomsawin seeks to present this new work throughout the Native northeast with particular focus on areas where Tribal communities are based.

A group of folks play instruments on a stage.
photo by Nolan Altvater, Passamaquoddy Tribe
Mali sings and holds a bass next to a man who plays a brass instrument.
photo by Nolan Altvater, Passamaquoddy Tribe

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