5 Powerful Films That Will Keep Us Inspired In 2018

Watch these five films that inspired us and showed the art community that every piece is a self-portrait

Illustration by Jess X. Snow

Art is not what we make — it’s who we are. Artists create to express their truest passions and perspectives, and each print, film, painting, poem, and chord is a thread of an artists identity. Watch these five films that inspired us, and showed the art community that every piece is a self-portrait.

1. Migration is Natural

Jess X. Snow is a poet and illustrator creating to show the importance of embracing culture and identity. Watch the powerful animated visual poem.

2. Illuminating Backstage at Destiny Arts

Dancers at Destiny Arts wrote and performed a show to express the realities and truth of speaking out against complacency. See what went into their incredible performance.

Learn More.

3. Meet the Vocal Revolutionaries

Lee Mokobe and Andy Mkosi are a poet and a multidisciplinary artist, respectively. See how Andy visualized Lee’s powerful words into a visual poem that will undoubtedly give you chills.

Learn More.

4. The Ultimate Collaboration: Jess X. Snow & Kayla Briët at ‘Ae Kai

Jess X. Snow and Kayla Briët don’t subscribe to limitations. After meeting at Sundance, the artists created installations at ‘Ae Kai’s Smithsonian Culture Lab that explore new mediums and ask important questions about the role of their heritage in their art. Watch the film here.

Learn More.

5. Forgotten Names: The Charlottesville Exhibition

Three artists joined forces to create a project about those who died at the hands of police brutality. Their project grew into a multimedia series that spoke to the issue in a new and powerful way.

Learn More.