ASHLEY JA'NAE GUNTER
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black and white in motion

I do not own the rights to this music.

12.3.20

There's something hypnotic about how school traditions feel valuable during the formative years of your life. You and your classmates, grouped, gathered, and forced, dedicate weeks to music and performing arts education that ultimately only upholds narrow perspectives of class, gender expression, competition, and purity. But with older age and distance, I realized this part of the curriculum was not crucial to who I've become, but actually quite distant from who I am and what I valued at the age and further made me feel excluded from my classmates. My school's tradition was a missed opportunity to use music and performing arts education to nurture authentic community building and collaborative artistic expression. It is vital to question what's at stake when these traditions are held on too tightly, especially in environments like schools.
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5.3.20

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  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • CV
  • Portfolio
    • What We Hold, We Build
    • Hair Studies
    • How to Belong
    • Black Folks Illustrated: portraiture
    • Black and White in Motion: Video Art
    • Affirmations: a solo exhibition by Ashley Ja'nae
  • Contact + Patreon

© 2024 Ashley Ja'nae. All rights reserved.

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