Location:  1251 Bryden Rd., Columbus, OH 43205

According to the website galleryinthehood.com, a mural painting, music, poetry, vendors, etc. was planned. I arrived at the address and was told the festival was cancelled due to rain. In their defense, rain was in the forecast and it did rain; but, it didn’t rain until after I left which was around 6:45 pm. I didn’t see any rain prior to that.  I noticed a young lady sitting in a chair holding an acoustic guitar. When I got a little closer, she started playing and another young lady started singing.  Their names are Keisha Soleil and B. Soleil.

Hakim Raquib, artist

I’m an artist originally from Boston Massachusetts. I’m a Master resident artist in the African American Masters Artist in Residence Program at Northeastern University (AAMARP).

What moves you to the type of art that you selected?

Aesthetics and process. Most of the work here is under the realm of digital art. That is the title of the exhibition. It has been digitally created and printed by me by hand, with what you call pigment inks on enhancement paper. My work is about the transformation of imagery. I am curious as to what more can there be in an image. I grew up in analog now I have moved to the digital realm. I think of these works as futuristic within the media. I want to see how far I can go in creating different filters and what comes out of these filters. Most of this work is algorithmically driven in a program called “Deep Dream.”  This is the landscape that it creates.

Do you have a favorite piece?

My favorite piece right now is called “Gele”. It’s the second to the last piece I did before I came to Columbus.  “Gele” is about texture. This is a deep dreaming image. It’s a crop from a larger portion. I didn’t want to make it huge. I wanted to show the texture of the process. My work tends to be relatively large.

My last piece is a picture that I took a while ago of Aretha Franklin. I wanted to honor her by making it the signature piece for the show. I took that analog image of her in 1980 at the Rose Bowl. She was one of many artists. Other artists included Michael Jackson and Stevie Wonder. I could capture her because I was working with Stevie Wonder at the time. Aretha Franklin wasn’t the head liner at the time, Stevie Wonder was. 

The African American Masters Artist in Residence Program at Northeastern University (AAMARP) was founded by Dana Chandler. He is an art activist who now lives in Gallop, New Mexico. The program is currently under attack. The University wants to take over this 40-year-old program. We need to resist that.

The guy in the picture is an attendee who wanted his picture taken.

My take on the African Village Arts Festival 2018

I loved the art! It was fascinating hearing about the process of turning digital images into a different work of art. I said different work of art because I believe some digital images can be a work of art without altering them (other than enhancing the image). Regarding the rain and the festival being cancelled…..No comment.