Abdu mongo ali has been named the inaugural Alice and Franklin Cooley Composer in Residence for the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Ali, a multi-disciplinary artist, musician, and poet, began their residency with the museum in September. On Jan. 22, ali’s residency will culminate in a sonic and visual performance of their work, “between every breath, there is atmosphere,” which will explore the impact of Maryland’s southern Atlantic atmospheric and ecological conditions on Black Baltimoreans.
Ali will use the museum’s collection and exhibitions to respond to a creative prompt centering on ecology as part of the BMA’s “Turn Again to the Earth” initiative. The initiative is focused on the museum’s role in conversations and actions regarding the environment and climate change.
“I was prompted to create this residency as a result of some of the cross-disciplinary artistic presentations that have inspired me the most,” said Asma Naeem, BMA Dorothy Wagner Wallis Director, in a statement. “Baltimore has a rich artistic community that both connects and transcends traditionally defined genres, and I could think of no one more fitting to be our inaugural Composer in Residence than abdu ali, whose life and work creatively crosses boundaries of all kinds.”
The title of ali’s work for the residency, “between every breath, there is atmosphere,” is tied to a collection of their poems about “the interconnectedness of Blackness, gay life, and the afterlives of slavery,” according to a news release.
Ali has performed and exhibited their work at MoMa PS1, Carnegie Museum of Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, Andy Warhol Museum, the Kennedy Center, and other institutions.
They have also presented lectures and talks at Harvard University, Stanford University, and Towson University. They earned their Master of Fine Arts degree in Literary Arts from Brown University.
