Radical Joy! Is an immersive and interactive art exhibition by artist Miko Simmons which includes projections, paintings, sound, and light to convey the essence of Black Joy. Simmons will curate and transform the MAAHMG space into an immersive experience. Joy is healing, Joy is love, Joy is celebration, Joy is survival, Joy is liberatory consciousness and perseverance. Joy is an Act of Resistance!Simmons is a fourth generation Twin Cities Rondo based, internationally recognized, Multimedia Artist / Composer and Theatrical Projection Designer. The exhibition runs June 20 – December 13. The exhibition is funded by a grant to MAAHMG from the Legacy Fund from the Minnesota State Legislature, Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Miko Simmons – Artist Statement:
For me Radical Joy is our Brilliance emanating from our connection to our Divine Nature. My collaborator Hannibal Lokumbe wrote; when We sing and dance, and weep with joy… the water falling from your eyes is the same as the water falling over the side of a Mountain, It is An Affirmation of Love.
My Art is inspired by my Ancestors, and the liberatory consciousness that was a system of survival through systemic injustices designed to oppress them daily. At the core of my remembrance, there was always celebration in response, where we found joy through every sorrow, and victory through every defeat, __ another reason to praise, to laugh and dance while inventing new forms of music and art. This was no escape from struggle, but there is a transcendence. Our joy is the mortar holding the bricks of our Resistance together—a living, breathing declaration of “We are still here!”. This isn’t just joy—it’s *Alchemy*. We’ve taken the weight of the world and turned it into **a bassline, a backspin, a Beat that cracks open the sky while shouting out loud…
“Our Joy is the Revolution!”
I view my Art in the form of Visual Jazz, it is free expression, it is collaboration and improvisational co-creation within the boundaries of structure and order, it is spiritual and contemplative connecting us to familiar memories, it is dedication to honoring the history of our traditions, it celebrates the Ancestors while inspiring the future, it creates the atmosphere that gives permission for moments to arrive. In its core, my work is about Healing.
My creative process is a trans-disciplinary fusion of art and technology merging and exploring the boundaries of diverse mediums such as 3D Animation merged with Opera, Theater, and Dance performances along with traditional mediums of creation. I believe in art’s transformative potential to open doors to multidimensional worlds and emotions, my goal is to explore and ultimately dispel the cultural myth that Technology and Nature are polar opposites. Through the connected tissue of creativity, digital technology can enhance and reflect a deeper understanding of our relationship to nature, technology, and each other.
