Artist and educator Abayomi Anli is preserving Black Natives & Afro-Indigenous history through her art. Working with different mediums such as “natural dyeing, working with found objects, murals, and sewing” allows Abayomi to form her “own visual language that is not bound to Western art concepts.”
Living in West Oakland, the “land of the Miwok and Ohlone people” Abayomi focuses on “the legacy of the Black Panther Party” and “reconnect[ing] with the land & spirit.” Through her art, Abayomi has been “constantly questioning what it means to center Blackness that lies outside the gaze of whiteness and affirm the existence of Black Natives & Afro-Indigenous traditions.”
By amplifying the history of melanated voices that may be disappearing from the narrative, Abayomi utilizes “colors, patterns, and portraits” to “map out histories attempted to be erased & distorted.” Keeping these legacies and truths alive, Abayomi’s aim is to “refine and learn new things on how to make art engaging and share testimonies.”
Abayomi is one of the brilliant artists involved with “The Black Woman Is God: The Blueprint” exhibited at San Francisco State, February 23rd-April 3rd, 2022. Abayomi is also a member of the Aerosoul Art Collective [@aerosoul_ig], which has created a Black Panther Party Mural on 3rd and Broadway.
Abayomi would like to urge the community to “please support West Oakland Black Muralists dedicated to preserving the legacy of the Black Panther Party and creating murals that uplift Black voices amid gentrification. For more information on mural projects, please follow @aerosoul_ig and donate to support the transformative work we have been doing.”
Feature Published: March 25, 2022
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