DIVERCITIES: Global Hip Hop Continuum

Wednesday, October 14, 2020 | 11:00 a.m.

In this virtual music + conversation series, join Milwaukee Portal Curator and Global Hip Hop Continuum series host Lewis Lee as he tours the hip hop hot spots around the world from Rwanda to Mexico. As a rapper, producer, and lyricist, Lewis engages artists from around the world for performances, conversation on the hip hop scenes in their communities, and interactive creative workshops. First stop, Erbil, Iraq, where Lewis will meet rapper Rami Khalaf aka MC Rami for a deep dive into the Iraqi rap underground.

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DIVERCITIES is presented in partnership with Shared_Studios, a global collective that creates meaningful human connections between people separated by distance and difference. The museum will house one of Shared_Studios’ famed Portals, a live, full-body, audio-visual environment that enables visitors to converse and interact with people from around the world as if they were in the same room. There are over 40 Portals worldwide, from Nairobi to Lahore, Milwaukee to La Paz, and each Portal in the network connects to every other.

The monthly DIVERCITIES program makes use of this extensive global network to explore the relationship between language and city. Through transformative conversations with comedians, poets, artists, journalists, educators, and activists, we explore the rich, unique ways people in different locations and cultures use and experience language. How do cities shape the ways in which we communicate? What words are unique to our city?