Omar Román de Jesús

Stemming from the partisan takeover of the Kennedy Center and the ricochet effects impacting both the future and institutional memory of arts in America, Omar Román de Jesús’s triptych, YAHAIRA YAHAIRA, weaves together performance, sound, video, and archival work in a narrative collage guided by the central question: What does it take to care about one’s neighbor, one’s environment, and one’s past beyond an individual sense of gain? The project includes a live dance performance, a recorded interview series, and a Docu-Dance film that collectively aim to preserve institutional memory while positioning bodies as indispensable archives and guiding lights.

Caretakers of Land/Land Acknowledgement: Lenape

Estimated Artist Fee: Single Performance: $7,150; Weekly Residency: $38,083