Something You Can Feel: A Black Art History Podcast

Qiaira
  • 5.0 (7)
  • VISUAL ARTS

Something You Can Feel is Black art history podcast, celebrating the lives, work and impact of under-recognized figures and movements in Black contemporary art. I’m your host Qiaira, an interdisciplinary artist and guerilla art theorist. Join me, and on occasion a few of my artsy friends, as I explore creative practices and disciplines from across the diaspora.

Episodes

  1. 10/27/2025

    A House Is Not a Home: Yannick Lowery + The Black Paradise Project

    This episode is a part of a three-part series entitled  “A House is Not a Home,” which will explore creative gendered Black spatialities and domestic life through interviews with cultural workers and artists. In this episode I talk with ⁠Yannick Lowery⁠, an artist moving through collage, animation, cyanotypes, and sculptural pieces to explore Black worlds in the past, present and future. We discuss the inspirations and outcomes of both his collaborative and independent work through the lens of the quiet and Black privacy as explored by thinkers like Kevin Quashie and Erika Alexander. This is also from a live public recording hosted at The Arts League, as apart of Philadelphia Open Studio Tours! Thanks so much to everyone who came out and to the listeners who will be really nice about the audio quality of attempting to do a live recording :) You can follow the podcast on Instagram: @somethingyoucanfeelpod. You can support the podcast by listening, leaving a review, sharing with a friend.

    51 min

  2. 02/05/2025

    A House is Not a Home: Tia Lorenna + The Teahouse Collective

    This episode is a part of a three-part series entitled  “A House is Not a Home,” which will explore creative gendered Black spatialities and domestic life through interviews with cultural workers and artists. In this episode I talk with Tia Lorenna, founder of the Teahouse Collective, a creative programming and residency space on Chicago's south-side. We discuss the history and future of the space through the lens of Amani C. Morrison’s theory of Black spatial affordances. You can follow the podcast on Instagram: @somethingyoucanfeelpod. You can support the podcast by listening, leaving a review, sharing with a friend.

    41 min
  3. A House Is Not A Home: Destiny Crockett & The Colored Girls Museum

    01/06/2025

    A House Is Not A Home: Destiny Crockett & The Colored Girls Museum

    This episode is a part of a three-part series entitled  “A House is Not a Home,” which will explore creative gendered Black spatialities and domestic life through interviews with cultural workers and artists. In this episode I talk with collage artist and scholar Destiny Crockett about her work with the Colored Girls Museum, a memoir museum dedicated to “the ordinary colored girl,” located in a domestic home in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood. We explore the notion of the museum as an interstitial space as understood through the lens of Harriet Jacobs’ 1861 Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl.

    49 min

  4. 07/22/2024

    Emmett Till and the Twilight Zone

    Inspired by a chapter from Legacy Russell's new book Black Meme, which explores the origins of the meme through Black visual culture from the 1900s through the present, this episode explores how a "viral" photo of Emmett Till, a 14 year-old lynching victim, inspired the creation of the television series The Twilight Zone. As this is one of my mom's favorite shows, she returns as my featured guest! We also discuss a controversial painting inspired by Till that led to protest at the 2017 Whitney Biennial and chat about our favorite horror movies. You can support the podcast by listening, leaving a review, following on Instagram @somethingyoucanfeelpod, or sharing with a friend. Giveaway If you're interested in participating in the giveaway of the 8.5x11 cyanotype recreation of "Negro Boys on Easter Sunday," please leave a comment and email me a screenshot at qiaira14@gmail.com or dm it on instagram @somethingyoucanfeelpod Resources Rod Serling, Twilight Zone and Censorship More on Emmett Till and The Twilight Zone Dana Schulz Painting and Protests More On Protests and Painting

    34 min
  5. Emory Douglas and the History of Black-Palestinian Solidarity

    07/02/2024

    Emory Douglas and the History of Black-Palestinian Solidarity

    Join my friends Layla and Nila for a brief visual history of Black-Palestinian solidarity and the story of artist Emory Douglas, the iconic graphic artist and Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party.   If you're interested in participating in the giveaway of the 8.5x11 cyanotype recreation of "Negro Boys on Easter Sunday," please leave a comment and email me a screenshot at qiaira14@gmail.com or dm it on instagram @somethingyoucanfeelpod You can support the podcast by listening, leaving a review, following on Instagram @somethingyoucanfeelpod, or sharing with a friend. Resources A visual history of Black-Palestinian solidarity by Salam Awad Emory Douglas Biography

    37 min

  6. 06/16/2024

    Henry O. Tanner and the Friends of Tanner House

    Join my mom, dad, aunt and I for a conversation about Henry O. Tanner, the accomplished Tanner family and their home in North Philadelphia.I discuss the work I did with the Friends of the Tanner House, a Black heritage group dedicated to the rehabilitation and re-envisioning of the historic home into a artist-residency program and cultural center. We also talk about the different houses in Chicago we grew up in, being the parent of an artist, and the recent passing of my aunt’s 20 year old Shih Tzu, Gizmo. Watch the video version here! If you're interested in participating in the giveaway of the 8.5x11 cyanotype recreation of "Negro Boys on Easter Sunday," please leave a comment and email me a screenshot at qiaira14@gmail.com or dm it on instagram @somethingyoucanfeelpod You can support the podcast by listening, leaving a review, following on Instagram @somethingyoucanfeelpod, or sharing with a friend! Resources Friends of the Tanner House The Tanner Family

    52 min
  7. Samaria Rice and The Tamir Rice Afrocentric Cultural Center

    06/02/2024

    Samaria Rice and The Tamir Rice Afrocentric Cultural Center

    In this episode, I talk with Zoe from Of Black Wombhood, a community audio-visual project exploring the narratives of Black womb-bearers. We discuss their work, as well as the life of Samaria Rice and the Tamir Rice Afrocentric Cultural Center. If you're interested in participating in the giveaway of the 8.5x11 cyanotype recreation of "Negro Boys on Easter Sunday," please leave a comment and email me a screenshot at qiaira14@gmail.com or dm it on instagram @somethingyoucanfeelpod You can support the podcast by listening, leaving a review, following on Instagram @somethingyoucanfeelpod, or sharing with a friend. Resources Micheal Rakowitz's exhibition https://www.spacescle.org/exhibitions/2018/07/14/a-color-removed Samaria Rice and Amanda D. King's work https://news.artnet.com/art-world/art-tamir-rices-mother-samaria-turning-tragedy-teaching-opportunity-1612330

    40 min
  8. Bisa Butler and the Negro Boys on Easter Morning

    05/31/2023

    Bisa Butler and the Negro Boys on Easter Morning

    In this episode, I tell my friend, Ona, about the "Negro Boys on Easter Sunday," a 1941 photograph taken across the street from the Regal Theatre on Chicago's south-side in the midst of the Great Migration. I also share a bit about the life and work of quilter Bisa Butler, who used the photo as inspiration for one of her quilts, and talk about my visit to the Black Power Naps exhibition at the MOMA and Terrence Nance's Swarm show at Philly's Institute of Contemporary Art. If you're interested in participating in the giveaway that includes a 8.5x11 cyanotype recreation of "Negro Boys on Easter Sunday," you have until June 15th to leave a comment and email me a screenshot at qiaira14@gmail.com or dm it on instagram @@thegoodhoodwitch . My apologies that this episode had a few audio issues! (It was recorded during Mercury Retrograde) You can support the podcast by listening, leaving a review, sharing with a friend or making a donation: Venmo: @lilqiaira Cashapp: $sweetpotatq

    39 min

  9. 02/20/2023

    Sittin' Up In My Living Room: Black Museums in Homes

    Inspired by my residency at the feminist-run Wedding Cake House in Providence, Rhode Island, this episode explores Black museums and creative spaces located in artist's homes. I'll discuss the history and work of The Dusable Museum in Chicago, the Colored Girls Museum and Jazz Box in Philadelphia, which were all started by Black women.  Tickets to The Colored Girls Museum’s upcoming Spring Exhibition can be found on their website: thecoloredgirlsmuseum.com .You can follow Jazzbox on Instagram @jazzb0x and support them here: ifundwomen.com/projects/jazzbox. You can find the Dusable's upcoming events at www.dusablemuseum.org . You can follow me on Instagram: @thegoodhoodwitch for updates and support the podcast by listening, leaving a review, sharing with a friend or making donations. Venmo: @lilqiaira Cashapp: $sweetpotatq

    36 min

  10. 02/04/2023

    Donelle Woolford

    This first episode discusses the controversial visual and performance artist, Donelle Woolford. Woolford was one of two Black women artists in the 2014 Whitney Biennial, where her work was so polarizing that it led to other artists removing their work from the cutting-edge exhibition. My mom and auntie are my special guests, who also share their wisdom, insight, and a little life advice. We're also celebrating my auntie's 50th birthday, by asking her to share 5 tips for an enjoyable life.You can find the video recording featuring visuals on youtube: https://youtu.be/yYjL-zONndA You can follow me on IG: @thegoodhoodwitch and support the podcast by leaving a review, sharing with a friend or making donations 🙂 Venmo: @lilqiaira Cashapp: $sweetpotatq The therapist/life coach my auntie mentioned is Noa; you can find them at noaisabella.com Link to doc with all resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17WDfEIAeTOjN3E1d8XB0OQ0KTDDQqxjtsBOGgOJCzDI/edit?usp=sharing

    1h 9m
  • 10 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

Something You Can Feel is Black art history podcast, celebrating the lives, work and impact of under-recognized figures and movements in Black contemporary art. I’m your host Qiaira, an interdisciplinary artist and guerilla art theorist. Join me, and on occasion a few of my artsy friends, as I explore creative practices and disciplines from across the diaspora.

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