Poetry, foreign cuisine, artwork and fashion brought together members of the MU community at the Kaleidoscope Showcase: Art as Activism on Saturday at The Shack.
Kaleidoscope is a semi-annual event with a goal of raising awareness of social injustices around the world and promoting cultural unity through various art forms.
“Art is living, art is not just movements and galleries,” sophomore Kiara Lanier, founder and organizer, said. “We wear art. We eat art. Art is all of these different things. (At Kaleidoscope) it is something that is interactive and we all are able to play a part in it.”
Following an open mic set, special performing guest Jasmine Mans, poet, took the stage. Despite her young age of 19, Mans has been immensely involved in the poetry community, including appearances on “Def Poetry” and “Brave New Voices” on HBO.
Mans explained that although she is thankful for the attention she has gained recently, she’s not nearly as successful as she plans to be.
“It’s one thing to be famous, but it’s another thing to be the next Maya Angelou or be the next top-selling author,” Mans said. “That’s my goal, to be one of the next great black writers and to essentially bring back the black arts movement.”
At the start of her set, Mans immediately captivated the audience with her bold, intense, in-your-face poetry. Along with her whole body, Mans used her facial expressions and her words to convey the message of her poems to the audience.
“I think as artists we have to take activism to a creative place in order for the people to understand it, to appreciate it and to dwell in it,” Mans said. “We can take these serious events, make something beautiful out of it and learn from it. Cultural unity is important and it’s the only way we can sustain ourselves as a human race.”
The event ended with a fashion show that showcased collections from student-designers. Each collection was intended to represent one of the 17 countries in turmoil that Kaleidoscope was raising awareness for.
Designers, sophomore Jeff Perkins and junior Alison Turner, designed their collection around Haiti and Japan. The overall theme of their collection was traditional dress meets modern. Both designers agreed that a majority of their inspiration stemmed from looking at the destruction within these countries and how it affected the people.
“I think seeing all their pain and everything that these people went through, we felt that emotion and we brought that emotion to the clothes,” Perkins said.
Both Perkins and Turner agreed that being involved in an event like Kaleidoscope was exciting and allowed them to be more culturally aware.
“(Being involved in Kaleidoscope) you’re not just sitting back and letting another day go by,” Perkins said. “No matter what talent you have, you can always make a change through your art.”
Members of the board of Kaleidoscope explained that they thought the event was not only successful in promoting activism, but in inspiring other students to also act on their own cause.
“Even if you’re not an artist, it definitely instills something in you,” freshman Malik Saaka said. “Not to sound cheesy, but if you want something bad enough, you can do it, no matter how small or large the scale. I think that’s definitely what we’ve achieved here today.”