Sanctuary: Exploring Afro-Ambient Soundscapes and Community Healing
NEXT: Jan 26
RSVP
Interested in getting involved or have feedback for us?
We’d love to hear from you.
Sanctuary is an space for engaging with sound as a critical medium for artistic inquiry and communal healing. As a creative ecosystem centered around Afro-Ambient and Electro-Acoustic performance traditions, Sanctuary is an interdisciplinary exploration at the intersection of sound, spirituality, and cultural preservation. Our gatherings extend from a lineage of experimental sound practices that highlight the restorative and transformative power of music.
Similar to sonic traditions of the Afro-diaspora that have sustained the social fabric of displaced peoples for centuries, Sanctuary exists as a conduit for cultural memory, community healing, and artistic innovation. With each installment we seek to deepen this discourse by employing sound art as both a method of research and a practice of collective engagement. The gatherings are part of an ongoing research and artistic endeavor to understand how sound, particularly through Afro-Ambient traditions, can be harnessed to foster personal reflection, collective healing, and the preservation of diasporic cultural legacies.
Sanctuaty blends elements of ambient music, minimalism, and Afro-diasporic musical traditions, creating an immersive, meditative soundscape that is simultaneously ancient and futuristic. This approach is evident in the experimental nature of Sanctuary performances, where live soundscapes often blend electronic improvisation with traditional instruments, field recordings, and the natural environment.
At its core, Sanctuary functions as a method of sound art research, where each event becomes an archival record, a performance, and a moment of collective reflection. It blends live performance with research-driven inquiry, using sound as a means of examining cultural memory, community building, and the act of listening itself. The curatorial approach of Sanctuary is designed to foster intentional, deep listening, encouraging participants to engage with sound as an active experience rather than a passive one. This act of listening is central to the research agenda, as it invites participants to explore the ways in which sound can create connections between the individual and the collective, the past and the present, and the personal and the political.
Through its performances, Sanctuary highlights the importance of archiving sound as a form of cultural preservation. Sound has the ability to hold memory, to transmit knowledge, and to facilitate spiritual practices. By centering Afro-Ambient and Electro-Acoustic music traditions, Sanctuary engages with the sounds of the past while also looking forward to new sonic possibilities. The use of electronic improvisation, field recordings, and traditional instruments becomes a form of sonic archaeology, unearthing hidden histories and offering new interpretations of diasporic sound practices.
This approach is complemented by Sanctuary’s commitment to community engagement through sound workshops and collaborative performances. The project envisions sound as a way of building bridges between disparate communities, fostering dialogue and healing through shared sonic experiences. Workshops offered through FORTHEFUTURE emphasize the importance of listening as a spiritual and cultural practice, and provide opportunities for participants to engage with the sonic traditions of the Afro-diaspora in hands-on ways.
The architecture of sound is central to the healing practices explored through Sanctuary. Sound has long been used in African and Afro-diasporic traditions as a means of spiritual practice, community connection, and social resistance. From the rhythmic drumming traditions of West Africa to the sacred chants of the Caribbean, to Gospel and “Work Songs” of the South, sound serves as both a bridge between the physical and spiritual realms and a tool for community healing.
Sanctuary builds on this tradition by offering a safe space for sonic experimentation and spiritual practice. The curated performances, sound healing sessions, and workshops invite participants to explore the ways in which sound can foster individual and collective healing. In particular, the integration of breathwork, meditation, and sound healing into the events creates a holistic environment where attendees can engage with sound as both an artistic medium and a form of spiritual nourishment.
The emphasis on safe space is crucial to the ethos of Sanctuary. In a world where marginalized communities often face systemic oppression, Sanctuary offers a refuge, a place where individuals can come together to explore their identities, their histories, and their futures through sound. It is a space where Black and Afro-diasporic artists and communities can center their voices and stories, using sound as a means of healing from historical and contemporary traumas.
As both an event series and an ongoing research project, Sanctuary represents only the first iteration of a larger body of work that will continue to grow through new activations, performances, sound works, audio-visual pieces, and essays. Ultimately, Sanctuary is an invitation to listen—to engage deeply with sound as a means of understanding the past, connecting with the present, and imagining the future. It offers a vision of sound as both art and research, as both performance and archive, and as both personal and collective healing. Through this ongoing exploration, Sanctuary aims to create new sonic architectures for the Afro-diaspora and beyond, building a future where sound becomes a vehicle for cultural preservation, artistic innovation, and social change.
