By: Ameena Khan
On the evening of Oct. 17, Natty Garden, a Black-owned community garden, became an art, music, and community space called “PEACE 2 POWER” in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. The venue offered an immersive cultural experience filled with art and storytelling.
Hosted by Christopher Griffin, also known as Plant Kween, and curated by Malakia, artist, Imagineer, and filmmaker, “PEACE 2 POWER” introduced the official launch of MATR3ARC and invited artists and storytellers to display their artwork, highlighting core themes of the event: peace, liberation, and power, as well as life amidst global conflict.
“Curation is an art form in itself,” according to Malakai. “With ‘PEACE 2 POWER,’ I want us to explore the joy that peace makes room for space to breathe, imagine, and exist fully, while making that possibility available to the next generation.”
The experience centers the question, “What does peace make possible?” and highlights its core themes by individual curators: “PEACE, curated by Arlyn De Los Santos; LIBERATION, curated by Mandana S. Ighani; and POWER, curated by Malakai,” according to Mandana S. Ighani, a producer on behalf of MATR3ARC.
Additional artists whose work was featured at the event include Kara Walker, Young Paris, Mesoma Onyeagba, Steve O. Spirals, Vince Mejia, Ashley Versher, Sam Brave, Sanna Legan, Kyra Knox, Tyler Newman, Lathenia Janae, T. Simone, and Uzo.
“Painting, photography, film, and projected works meet through an orchestration of imagery, sound, and space,” Ighani further states. “Curation becomes an artistic language, inviting audiences to move through distinct perspectives on memory, freedom, and belonging.”
Additionally, “PEACE 2 POWER” had a goal of raising $25,000 to support Made in Her Image (MIHI), an award-winning non-profit, uplifting “more than 2,000 creators through over 40 programs and projects,” according to Ighani. “Past collaborators include Disney, Universal, Panavision, A24, Light Iron, LEE Filters, and Creative Solutions.”
All fund proceeds would go to MIHI to fund the non-profit’s “first Open Lens youth lab of 2027, creating 25 fully sponsored places with hands-on learning, mentorship, and access to creative tools,” according to Ighani.
DJs blasted music alongside live performances, displayed visual art canvases, and the garden enhanced the botanical experience.
Attendees from all kinds of artistic backgrounds had the opportunity to experience, interact, and support fellow artists and storytellers within their community.
Dylan Gadsden, a model and fashion designer, was among the attendees who were invited. She noted her favorite piece was one of the selected artworks from “The Venus Project,” a large-scale series of collage pieces by conceptual social justice artist Sanna Legan.
“I’ve seen this one piece where there was this lady, like laying in her bed, and the artist told me that it was kind of like a newer rendition on Greek paintings,” said Gadsden. “It was to kind of just reclaim the power of your own womanhood and strip away the male gaze from everything. So I thought that was really beautiful.”
Legan also displayed one of her garments from her other series, “The Strait Jacket,” featuring a live model dressed in a reimagined yellow straitjacket featuring embroidered beads at the bust reading, “My Body, My Choice.”
“Many do not know the Latin word for uterus is in the word hysteria,” Legan explained to the audience. “This is because people with uteruses have literally had their autonomy and their rights taken away, which people think is a historical thing. But as we know, that belief system is well in place now, but in a legislative and a political form.”
Additionally, the live model wears a skirt made up of the state seals, each representing a United States (US) state that had banned abortion, emphasizing the restriction and oppression of fundamental human rights and bodily autonomy.
Mesoma Onyeagba, a Nigerian-born artist known for her vibrant portraits and textiles, featured her portrait, “My Space,” and featured her textile rugs.
“I made a self-portrait depicting me in my space, in my world,” Onyeagba told The Vanguard, explaining her artistic process.
“I paint things about beauty, escapism, and just self-understanding and groundedness. I grew up with lots of patterns, colors, so I was inspired to paint on fabric [to represent] my culture or represent some kind of nature.”
”I also grew up with a mother that’s into fashion design and acting. So she inspired me to wear bold colors. In the painting, you can see bright greens, turquoise, orange, just things that make me who I am, that represent me.”
Towards the conclusion of the event, many attendees expressed their gratitude towards being able to interact with so many artists in multi-disciplinary fields and share their own distinct artistic perspectives.
“[There’s] just something so good, something that feels so right about being around a group of people,” Gabriella Womack, creative director and model,” told The Vanguard.
“I feel with AI, you really can’t relate to it because it’s not who you are. Its fingers are fake. But me being on camera or with a group, that’s real connection, real reality. So the more people around, the better. The more lively the events are, the more generations we have to talk about different things and different stories.”
To learn more about “MATR3ARC” and upcoming events, visit https://www.matr3arc.com/