Bajo El Sol Gallery to Host ‘Voices of the Streets: A Dramatized Monologue’

Mongoose Junction

Bajo El Sol Gallery in Mongoose Junction will host two live performances of “Voices of the Streets: A Dramatized Monologue” at 7 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 25 and at 4 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 26. The program features spoken word and theatrical performances by visiting Antiguan poet and artist Iyaba Ibo Mandingo as well as several Virgin Islands-based artists.

Tickets for either performance are $20 and can be purchased by visiting Bajo El Sol Gallery or calling the gallery at 693-7070. Seating is limited.

Performers include Iyaba Ibo Mandingo, Jahweh David, Euwema, Khalarni Rivers, Nyaila Callwood, Shammie Phipps and Starry Lail. The event will also feature music by D’Jeli Group, a version of the show previously debuted in the USVI at E’s Garden Teahouse on St. Thomas in October.

Iyaba Ibo Mandingo is a poet, painter, writer, actor and playwright born in Antigua. He studied fine arts at Southern Connecticut State University and today teaches in and around the tri-state area as a master teaching artist. He appears regularly as a performance poet in venues across the United States and abroad, including Nuyorican Poetry Café, Brooklyn Moon and Next Door Café, among others. He was awarded a national Percent for the Arts Program artist grant as well as grants from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, and multiple commendations from the Nassau County African American Museum. His artwork has been included in over a dozen group and individual shows.

Collaborating partners for the event include Bajo El Sol Gallery, HomeGrown Reggae, Reggae Anthology, Strength to Strength, The Gri Gri Project as well as the Rhyme and Lime.