Sage Ni’Ja Whitson: Revival_ _Revival

Sage Ni’Ja Whitson: Revival_ _Revival November 8, 2026 @ 1:00 pm Free + Open to the Public About Revival_ _Revival: This moving performance travels across sacred historic sites in the once predominantly Black community of Santa Monica and activates them through spiritual music, movement, and ritual traditions led by Black queer and transgender communities. Revival_ _Revival makes its path by the sites once home to sacred buildings bulldozed by time and gentrification. With a live sound score, the performance mixes gospel, house music, hip hop, and voice to transmute memory, land, and water into new imaginings, new futures. By combining Black spiritual traditions with multiple Black music forms, the work amplifies what they describe as “a shared holy” and celebrates interwoven histories of gathering, resistance, and celebration. Revival_ _Revival will culminate at Ocean Bay Beach, where the processional becomes a fellowship. “Sage Ni’Ja Whitson’s work traces hidden stories across Santa Monica, showing the ways Black queer and trans communities have always shaped this city,” says Michael Ano, Deputy Director of Artistic Programs. “The processional is a way of moving through history—honoring what has been erased, celebrating what endures, and bringing together the sacred and the musical as a force for community and transformation.” Audience members are encouraged to wear white clothing and white masks. The processional route will be accessible. More details will be released closer to the event date. Artist Bio Sage Ni’Ja Whitson is a queer & transgender artist who conjures the sacred and conceptual in science, technology, and art. Whitson’s anti-disciplinary constellation of creative works has received international awards and recognition, including a DAAD Visual Arts Award, Creative Capital Award, two Bessie Awards, and a United States Artist Fellowship. They are a ritual leader and spiritual practitioner that draws from knowledges in Ifá, rootwork, and multi-indigenous medicines. Whitson’s work has been supported, commissioned, and awarded internationally including the Smithsonian Museum of African Art, the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Montévídeo, and the California African American Museum. Whitson is a Full Professor of Black Study at UC Riverside. Learn more at www.theunarrivalexperiments.com.