In Concert: SIREN

About the Performance

Join SIREN as they treat guests to a unique performance that honors the history of Juneteenth, celebrating the official ending of slavery in the confederate states, and thus, the official liberation of Black people from slavery in all of America.

The performance will feature all original songs from SIREN, and will take listeners on a journey through various Black music styles and art forms. Compromised of 6 Black and brown queer musicians, SIREN blends countless music genres and styles to create ethereal and reflective soundscapes that culminate in otherworld-building projects.

The performance will be accompanied by a visual work created by the music collective SIREN (directed by Myles E. Johnson) that explores consciousness, Black suffering, Black liberation and paranormal activity through traditionally queer and Black digital musical traditions (808s, synths, sampling) creating a psychedelic space strung together by vocals and poetry that push one to ask: What are these voices in my head? Who are these voices in my head? Who do these voices in my head belong to, and are they trying to enslave or liberate me?

Video, photography, acapella vocal harmonies, poetry, digital synths and drums. VOICES OF IRON (2024) is a multimedia exploration of the use and misuse of the voice throughout Black American existence. It seeks to explore the connection between torture practices such as the iron masks during chattel slavery with the modern madness that occurs in the modern Black American mind that may manifest as anxiety, schizophrenia, and/or addiction. It seeks to explore the question through vocals, poetry, videography/photography and music; is today’s Black American spiritual, psychic and mental suffering connected to the silencing of the voice?

Fotografiska has always looked for ways to celebrate and create moments of JOY. Pride programs at Fotografiska are emblematic of the moments in the photos on our walls, a reminder that we are all creators.