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Dark Matter Residency

@darkmatterresidency

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The DMR supports emerging artists of color whose work challenges the hegemonic hierarchies of race through performance and visual representation.

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Today we celebrate the 2026/2027 cohort of our Dark Matter Residency! The residency serves Chicago-based performing artists from a diverse range of performing arts disciplines including (but not limited to) music, performance art, dance, drama, poetry, film, multimedia, and puppetry. Residents perform in Dark Matter Series events, Community Outreach events,
AfroFuturist Weekend, and other Elastic programs throughout the year. Keep an eye out for these artists presenting work here and throughout Chicago!   Xavi is an artist, writer-poet, educator, and organizer, because their communities are fighting for liberation. They’ve edited the literary, culture, and politics magazines La Respuesta and Que Ondee Sola and exhibited multimedia installations at Instituto Sactar in Brazil.

AQ, most known for rap, also began collecting vinyl, practicing turntablism, DJing, and making beats in the late 90’s. He dove into noise via an interest in the vintage electronics that made early hip-hop and house music, often incorporating loops, scaratches, grooves, and occasional raps into performances.

udochukwu anidobu (she/they) is an Igbo-American artist, landscape architect and DJ born and based in Chicago whose work physically and sonically challenges our understanding of African and diasporic landscapes, traditions, and ecologies through an exploration of traditional crafts, music and lived experiences.

Amari Amai (he/they) is a black nonbinary storyteller and world builder born and raised in Chicago. Amari’s work is rooted in oral tradition and archival resurrection on and off the page, using poetry, folklore, soundscapes, and performance to bend time towards a pre-colonial past and decolonized future. Amari is the founder of Crossroads Writers Collective, a communal writing group for Black queer folks based in Chicago.

Nova Zaii is a drummer, music producer, educator, and sonic experience designer from Chicago. Zaii invented and patented a touchless musical instrument called the Nova Portals. He performs genre defying, futuristic live sets, making music out of thin air with the Nova Portals while knocking satisfying rhythms on drums to his original mus taken in Elastic Arts by @darkmatterresidency

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🚨 ARTISTS, YOUR NEXT BIG OPPORTUNITY MIGHT BE CLOSER THAN YOU THINK! 🎨💰

Your creativity deserves more than applause. It deserves investment, resources, and room to grow.

Whether you’re making music, developing a new performance, building your artistic practice, or looking for that next career-changing opportunity, we’ve rounded up 6 opportunities worth your attention this week!

And here’s the thing: TWO deadlines are TOMORROW! ⏰

✨ CREATIVE TALENT IS EVERYWHERE. OPPORTUNITY SHOULD BE TOO.

At Bustling Spaces, we believe artists deserve access to the resources that help turn creative potential into sustainable careers. That’s why we’re keeping these opportunities on your radar.

📌 SAVE this post so those deadlines don’t sneak up on you.
📲 SHARE it with an artist, musician, or creative who’s ready for their next opportunity.
💬 TAG someone who needs to see this!
🔎 Explore more opportunities through Bustling Spaces.

Full application URLs are listed; copy them into your browser to learn more. Don’t just create. Keep growing. Keep applying. Keep building. 🚀

#bustlingspaces #grantwatch #artistgrants #creativeopportunities #chicagoartists

🎨 01 | ILLINOIS ARTS COUNCIL – CREATIVE ACCELERATOR FUND @illinoisartscouncil
💰 $10,000 AWARD
📅 DEADLINE: OCTOBER 14

What could $10,000 do for your creative practice? This fund invests directly in Illinois artists with an active and sustained artistic practice.

No specific project required. Just an opportunity to invest in your continued growth as an artist.

🔗 https://arts.illinois.gov/granting-opportunities/grants-programs/creative-accelerator-fund.html

#grants #chicagogrants #illinoisartscouncil

🏙️ 02 | SAIC – ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE AT HOMAN SQUARE @saic_communityengagement @saicdesignhomansquare
📅 DEADLINE: OCTOBER 14

Art has the power to bring communities together. This residency gives artists the opportunity to create, collaborate, and engage with Chicago’s West Side communities through socially engaged artistic work. A chance to develop your practice while making meaningful community connections.

🔗 https://linktr.ee/saicathomansquare

#grants #chicagogrants #saic #artistinresidence

🎶 03 | JOHN P taken in Chicago, Illinois by @darkmatterresidency

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📢 NEWSLETTER ALERT + ICYMI: NEW BLOG! 📝

PHEW! A TIME HAS BEEN HAD, Y'ALL! 🎊

🛣 📊 Coming off the heels of the South Side Creative Roadshow events co-hosted by Creative Measures at @chi_brations presents...The PORTAL, @beverlyartcenter and @blancgallerychicago , we're really fired up to dig deeper into @artsallianceil 's Creative Economy data and advocate for more funding and resources for the Arts & Culture Sector.

🤔 What are the different ways this can look?

💰 In case you missed it, staff member Paige Brown wrote a guest blog entry last week about how she got into grant writing in the Arts, and how the work inspired her to think about collective thriving and arts funding.

Next week, we're putting our thoughts into practice with our We Are One fundraising campaign, with a goal to raise $20,000 with our Collective Catalyst Cohort by the end of the year.

✅️ Stay tuned for ways to give, support, and share around this initiative!

For right now - sound off on the blog or the comments here - how can we fund arts & culture in our communities collectively?

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Also in today's newsletter:

💲 - 90-day outlook for selected Grants, Residencies, & Open Calls

💻 - Grant Club Returns on Thursday, November 5th! Registration open now, link in bio

🎨 - Check out @chicagodcase and @@chicagobacp 's Creative Worker Right's campaign, with new resources, webinars, and events designed to help creative workers and employers

🚏- Don't miss the last Creative Roadshow stop in Chicago at @timelinetheatre on October 16th!

Check out Vol. 73 and sign up at our website for opportunities directly in your inbox!

#bustlingspaces #ArtistsSupportingArtists #ArtsFunding #GrantWatch by @darkmatterresidency

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taken in OUTER SPACE by @darkmatterresidency

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On Saturday AfroFuturist Weekend 2026 comes back to its home base Elastic Arts for an evening celebrating hip hop’s history and future. The evening will flow naturally with a few brief breaks, so come and go as you please between 5 PM and “late,” as set times are approximate.

At 5pm 2026 Dark Matter Resident Aquil “AQ” Charlton will lead a panel of voices in hip hop, Lyrical Miracles: Rap Artists & the Craft, and Culture,” a discussion of hip-hop, lyricism featuring PsalmOne, green Slime, Asha Omega and J Bambii remotely from the UK. Lyrical Miracles is a discussion about the genius of rap and the rappers who create it. Rap is widely considered one of the densest and most complex forms of songwriting, yet it is often diminished as a singular form associated with its most superficial commercial practitioners. This discussion among rappers acclaimed for their lyricism will examine the current value of lyrical craft among practitioners, audiences, and the music industry.

After the panel, Dark Matter Resident Amari Amai presents “de/cipher” an immersive sound experience featuring music and storytelling using Elastic Arts’ 16-channel CLEAT sound system.

At 9pm reedist and composer Mike Monford & The Afrofuturistic Vibe will perform. Monford will pay tribute to his childhood friend and colleague J Dillaand present 4 new compositions in his honor. There will also be a new composition from his next album entitled Night Blooming Cereus. Get ready for a blend of the African Diaspora, JDilla and Monford style with a large ensemble!

Mike Monford & Afrofuturistic Vibe

Mike Monford: Alto Saxophone & Vocals
Corey Wilkes: Trumpet
Louis M Jones III: Drums
Josef Deas: Bass
Tara Shaheer Monford: Spoken Word
Ytasha Womack: Spoken Word
Lufuki Ismaeel Dhul-Qarnayn: Guitar

Afrofuturistic Strings

Laina Martin: Violin
Indira Edwards : Viola
Brendan Callies : Cello taken in Elastic Arts by @darkmatterresidency

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On Sunday October 4 AfroFuturist Weekend 11 concludes at Blanc Gallery in Bronzeville with a collaborative presentation featuring Elastic Arts’ critically acclaimed AfriClassical Futures series.

The program will host Detroit-based Autophysiopsychic Millennium’s “White Flowers,” a string ensemble work that emerged from the organization’s theatrical production “Something Else in the Garden.” That performance was inspired by Dr. Yusef Lateef’s novella, “Night in the Garden of Love,” connecting the festival’s exploration of “The Cipher” to Lateef’s expansive legacy as a musician, composer, educator, and visionary thinker.

Producer, flutist & multi-instrumentalist BSA Gold will begin the afternoon at 4pm with a small ensemble performance.
They will be exploring sound, spirituality, and self-understanding through electronics and acoustic instruments. Inspired by Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra, Alice Coltrane, Ras G and countless other pioneers in music, she experiments with synths/electronics, and acoustic instruments, exploring the possibilities for composition as a producer and songwriter.

All attendees are encouraged to spend time experiencing the Blanc Gallery’s exhibits, which intersect with AtroFuturist Weekend’s mission to envision radically positive and liberated futures for Black people, especially the Radical Oscar Brown Jr. centennial exhibit.

RSVP in bio. Offsite at Bronzeville’s Blanc Gallery [outdoors, weather permitting]; 4445 S King Drive Chicago, IL by @darkmatterresidency

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AFW DAY 1 - THURSDAY 10/1

Afrofuturist Weekend opens with performances by the 2026 Dark Matter Residents and the panel “What Is the Cipher in 2026?”, moderated by author Ytasha Womack Who will be signing her new books “The Afrofuturist Evolution: Creative Paths to Self-Discovery” & “Spider-Man: Miles Morales”

Thursday, October 1 at 6 PM
The.BlkRoom
4015 W. Carroll Ave., Unit 204
FREE99!
eventbrite link in bio

#AfrofuturistWeekend #TheCipher #DarkMatterSeries #ElasticArts by @darkmatterresidency

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Join us on Saturday afternoon for an AfroFuturist Weekend staged reading at La Escuelita Bombera de Corazón / 3505 West North Avenue in Humboldt Park. ‘Black Warrior Angel’ intends to be another loving guide to Africa’s global descendants in a quest for answers. This theatrical work-in-progress is written by Xavi Burgos, a 2026 Dark Matter Resident. This is the first in a two-part reading, as part of a series of new art works titled A New History of the Puerto Rican Peoples, told in poetry, play, song, fabric, painting, performance, music, dance, ritual, and revolution.

Who exactly will we become?

Offsite in Humboldt Park at La Escuelita Bombera de Corazón
3505 W. North Ave.

FREE AT DOOR AS CAPACITY ALLOWS taken in La Escuelita Bombera de Corazón by @darkmatterresidency

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AFW DAY 3 - SATURDAY 10/2
Saturday brings Afrofuturist Weekend programing to 2 locations!

At 3 PM, Dark Matter Resident Xavi Burgos presents a staged reading and talkback at La Escuelita Bombera de Corazón.

At 5 PM, join us at Elastic Arts for “Lyrical Miracles: Rap Artists & the Craft,” a discussion of hip-hop, lyricism moderated by Aquil “AQ” Charlton, featuring Psalm One, green Slime, Asha Omega and J Bambii remotely from the UK.

J Bambi presents a preview of “J Bambii’s Black American Beauty: The Live Experience” a new film by Kin Marie centered around their legendary live 2024 performance at sleeping village.

Amari Amai presents “de/cipher” an immersive, 360 degree sound experience featuring music and storytelling.

Mike Monford and his band present a tribute to his childhood friend J Dilla featuring 4 exciting new compositions.

La Escuelita Bombera de Corazón
3505 W. North Ave.

Elastic Arts
3429 W. Diversey Ave., #208
#AfrofuturistWeekend #TheCipher #JDilla #DarkMatterSeries by @darkmatterresidency

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AfroFuturist Weekend XI continues off-site Friday night in Bronzeville at a beautiful church @ 4622 S. King Drive. We’ll start with solo performances from 2026 Dark Matter Residents Nova Zaii and nxtlvl (udochukwu anidobu). The evening will culminate in a full night of dancing featuring most excellent selectors DJ Duane Powell, CTRL Zora, and Harlem West.

Offsite in Bronzeville at 4622 S. King Dr

FREE AT DOOR AS CAPACITY ALLOWS - RSVP IN BIO taken in Chicago, Illinois by @darkmatterresidency

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AFW DAY 2 -FRIDAY 10/2

Enter the cipher—and the dance floor!
We’re proud to present an Afrofuturist dance party featuring:

Duane Powell
CTRL Zora
Harlem Masimba
With special guest
nxtlvl
(Udochukwu Anidobu)
Nova Zaii performing with his Nova Portals™

Friday, October 2 at 8 PM
4622 S. King Dr., Bronzeville
FREE99!
eventbrite link in bio

#AfrofuturistWeekend #TheCipher #ChicagoMusic #Bronzeville by @darkmatterresidency

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