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Harlem Masimba West

@harle.m

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omni • sonic griot
@masimbatintypes
v.a. curator @elasticarts
air @10pmradio

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‘Bones, Egun, n’ Heirlooms’ installation portal for the “Roots & Routes” exhibition at Newlab.

special thank you to the curators: @blackbottomarchives @earthseed_black_family_archive & Tae from @det.repop for sourcing the vanity of my dreams

display: tintypes, heirlooms & jewelry from @_asha_grant ‘s gram ❣️

📸: polaroids B&W i-type film
image 2, 5, & 6 yellow lenses original i-type film taken in Detroit, Michigan by @harle.m

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a year ago

session with @jennifershafferphoto 🥀

thank you @madrosesock & @kimballartschicago @ilacreativestudio for connecting us!! taken in Kimball Arts Center by @harle.m

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6 months ago

to witness is a gift taken in Oakwood Beach by @harle.m

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2 years ago

sojourning & sonic grails (april - may 26’ archives)

1. magic protects this space!
2. Dizygotic Energy at the Blk Room
3. East Garfield wata soundscape
4. AACM Ensemble serenade
5. Shazah!
6. chicago loves jazz
7. clip of ‘Ritual’ from the mind of Julian Otis
8. Jovia Armstrong is medicinal
9. Thrival cleanse
10. first arboreal of the summa
11. this felt like sunshine
12. griot ayana
13. The Doctor’s Exhibit at Honey Pot
14. Zahra in Honor Thy Mother
15. kezia’s mj tribute
16. tenda head sonics episode 2! by @harle.m

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4 months ago

“quiet as it’s kept” is now digitally archived at elasticarts.org, alongside its feature in graphic notes Vol. 37. many thanks to Juniper & Atoi for sharing their thoughts and thank you to Elastic for this documentation 🫧

“quiet as it’s kept” contributing artists

Juniper Jones @131.295
Amira Diaw @amiratthegoat
Jalen Hamilton @1510west
Atoi Glennette @saturns.glass taken in Elastic Arts by @harle.m

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20 days ago

Presenting: “Bones, Egún, n’ Heirlooms” Tintype capture. featuring;

kush thompson with ancestor Tony Benson

Jailel Barr with ancestor Essie Mae Booker

Raja’Nee Redmond with ancestors Benjamin “BJ” Redmond, Gloria Gray, Beatrice Redmond

Jalen Hamilton with elder Dorothy Hamilton

Itiola “I.S” Jones with matriarch elder Itiola

Photographer: @masimbatintypes
Production Partner: @saturns.glass
Set Design: @masimbatintypes

@cursivebones
@lillofthevall
@saymynayme
@1510west
@isjonespoetry taken in The First Presbyterian Church of Chicago by @harle.m

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a year ago

tenda-head sonics on 10PMradio
premier episode 6PM Thursday 04.23.26

this is space is a prayer & playground. channeling with deep space, soulful, experimental, house, & jazz tender. black first, n’ free! grateful for @professor_wrecks + @10pmradio for believing in my vision and producing this monthly show 🥀

mood board
2. Makonde ebony mpingo combs
+ ‘udochi’ by @ani.do.bu
3. polaroid scan of my gmama + kush thompson poem
5. photobooth scans from West family archives

Archived on soundcloud + www.10pmradio.com by @harle.m

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6 months ago

“you must got sweet-blood”

In this culmination of works, materials found within quotidian rituals used for culturally Black queer aesthetic expression, act as vehicles for exaltation and re-imagining. Through the lens of the expansive Black ordinary, to have “sweet blood” is to be desired: thus being labeled as such plausibly justifies the day-to-day emulation and violence Black bodies are subject to.

I have found that the ostensible ‘sweetness’ cultivated from existing while Black, derives from an insatiable desire to fly: or otherwise refusal to be earthbound. This devotion to flight and astral-traveling has always attracted parasitic systems of blood-sucking.

While up in the air, Black and queer folks in flight appear aimless within the regime, as we dare to drift towards a capacity, as opposed to a destination. Whether creating and queering through adornments, policy, post colonial taboo expression, or mundane modes of survival; sweetblooded Black and queer folk know how to alchemy ruin into flight. And so, Sweetblood is inspired by this devotion flying, and the ways these themes are undeniably present in Black queer cultural regimens, rituals, and aesthetics.

This gallery’s intention is to name the insatiable and relational hunger between the consumer and the sweet-blooded. Centering visual surrealism, textiles, and media manipulation, these artists speak directly to the daily practice and dichonotmy of queering oneself for freedom’s sake.

Featured Brilliant Artists;

Payton Harris Woodard @paydeauxx
Amani J @amani.j.creates
Talia Kim Wright @cherub.jpeg
Noelani Pierce @_good_v1bes

Curated by Harlem Masimba West

Gallery Opening 10/18
6-9pm
@elasticarts

Gallery Closing 11/29 taken in Elastic Arts by @harle.m

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7 days ago

@oopsdidimakeyou debut coming fast! channeling both 2005 & 2025 for this one 🙂‍↔️ spinning some all around blk muzik, from deep house/tech to neo-soul edits that remind me of frankincense n’ myrrh & my scorpio stellium ✨ closing the night out after taste makers @iceybby @ctrlzora @momamimusic set the vibe 🌟 eager to hear the ways this line-up will activate @sl33pingvillag3

& my fav part is that the dance floor archives the night, with film cameras available to everyone in the space! queer centered, come thru for a good time 💋

thank you to the curator @super.intra for all your intentional research & dedication to the new orleans- chicago pipeline 🫶🏾 by @harle.m

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a year ago

recently spun on The Podlasie’s dreamy sound system 🌀 playing from my inner always, open decks felt like summer school

26’ digi cam archive taken in Podlasie Club by @harle.m

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a month ago

taken in Garfield Park Conservatory by @harle.m

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3 years ago

🤲🏾 by @harle.m

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a year ago