OVER WATER: Elliott Sharp / Janene Higgins / Rena Anakwe

Composer, multi-instrumentalist, performer, and polymath Elliott Sharp, media artist Janene Higgins, and interdisciplinary artist and 2019 Artist-In-Residence Rena Anakwe premiere Over Water, a new work developed for ISSUE’s 2019 Gala.

Elliott Sharp is a central figure in the avant-garde music scene in New York City and a long-time friend of ISSUE’s founder Suzanne Fiol. A member of ISSUE’s Artistic Advisory Board, Sharp has an extensive history with the organization, including the premiere of his renowned opera Port Bou in 2014, his 60th birthday celebration series E#@60, as well as numerous premieres, presentations, and collaborations, including a collage of sound and words from texts by William Burroughs with ISSUE Board Member Steve Buscemi.

During her 2019 residency, Rena Anakwe has been developing a series of rituals that excavate connections between the five elements of nature (water, air, fire, earth, and aether/void) as a sensorial, diasporic healing practice. These rituals are an ongoing collaboration with lighting designer Kelley Shih and take into consideration a holistic approach to blending analog and digital creative technologies with spirituality. In February, 2019, she premiered The Cosmology of Water in collaboration with Kingsley Ibeneche; and, in July, 2019, Fast Forward to Silence with Jonathan González, and Ogwu (the healing) in November, 2019.

Also a long-time supporter of ISSUE, Janene Higgins has performed at ISSUE throughout its history, most recently doing projection design for Sharp’s opera Port Bou. Higgins has staged live video performance in collaboration with many luminaries within the ISSUE community, including Ikue Mori, Alan Licht, Aki Onda, Okkyung Lee, and Zeena Parkins.