Poolside Performances are an exploration of experimental music, movement, and mark-making. Nova Zaii will perform using his patented Nova Portals, an instrument he invented that creates sounds from thin air, he will be joined in collaboration with KESSA amid the verdant surroundings of the Cranbrook Art Museum grounds near the Triton Pools.
Nova Zaii is an electronic producer, drummer, and experience designer from Chicago. While completing two degrees in Performing Arts Technology and Jazz Studies at the University of Michigan, he invented a touchless instrument called the Nova Portals. He has patented and performed the Portals around the country, including for TEDx Chicago. In 2016, he cofounded the electronic-jazz group, The JuJu Exchange, which released its debut album “Exchange” in 2017 that reached the number one Jazz Album streaming position on Apple Music. He has also worked with artists including Vic Mensa, KESSWA, Prefuse 73, Derrick Hodge, Jamila Woods, Wendell Harrison, Shara Nova, Marcus Elliot, Tank and the Bangas, and other visionary artists. Zaii’s vision is to bring the listener into a zone of boundless creation and creative perception, through which identity, purpose, and essence can be vividly beheld.
Kesiena Wanogho, aka KESSWA, is an interdisciplinary artist from Detroit, MI. As a vocalist, producer, and filmmaker, her work integrates performance, video, music, and spoken word to function as a resource for emotional healing. Her work with renowned musician Shigeto, “Is My Mind A Machine Gun?” (2021) premiered on the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit’s (MOCAD) new media platform Daily Rush and premiered as a performance art piece at Dlectricity’s 2021 Festival. KESSWA is a 2022 Kresge Arts in Detroit Fellow and has toured Germany as Musicboard Berlin and Detroit-Berlin Connection’s premier artist-in-residence. She has performed at Pop-Kultur Festival, Dlectricity, and Haldern Pop Festival. She has also performed in support of avant-garde artists such as Esperanza Spalding, Sudan Archives, The Sun Ra Arkestra, and Rashaad Newsome at institutions such as The Cleveland Museum of Art, The University of Michigan Museum of Art, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. Most recently, she is featured as an artist and producer on Theo Parrish’s DJ-Kicks compilation.
Free and Open to all, advanced registration is encouraged. Please RSVP using the form below.
In the case of inclement weather, this event will occur in the lower level lounge in the art museum.
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