PLACE:

Natchez, MS

BIO:

Nana Kumi is a Ghanaian-American Artist, Land Steward, and Storyteller from Natchez, MS. After graduating from Mississippi State University, she pursued a career as a makeup artist in New York City where she worked in the beauty, fashion, and film industries. Upon her return home to Mississippi, she began her journey as an herbalist and started sharing natural remedies with her community. In recent years, her artistic focus has evolved into memory-keeping work. Her work primarily utilizes documentation, narrative collection, and portraiture, as a conduit to highlight the interconnectedness of the black rural south and west Africa. She is currently the director of The Spirit in Our Roots project, a land-based initiative that addresses food sovereignty in rural Mississippi. Her multidisciplinary artistic practice demonstrates the interconnectedness of various fields and the potential for collaboration across different sectors for social and environmental change.

PROJECT:

SOIL is the pilot episode of a six-part series, titled The Earth Holds Weight.

This cinematic journey illuminates the profound significance of food in shaping BIPOC experiences and legacies in the deep south. This episode, our series’ genesis, sets the stage for a thought-provoking exploration of the interconnectedness of soil with the history, culture, and identity of the black American South and the African Diaspora. By blending folklore, oral history, and performance, the series offers an immersive viewing experience. SOIL uplifts the stories of Indigenous and Black communities whose histories are intertwined with the land, shedding light on often overlooked narratives. This holistic approach to storytelling not only educates but also prompts reflection on the broader themes of displacement, land, culture, and food.