The Power Plant

Don't miss the second KUUMBA 365 Spoken Word Performance by artist Randell Adjei. Adjei will use spoken word and poetry to respond to the themes in Aria Dean's video piece Abattoir, U.S.A.!, sharing his perception of the piece through the Black cultural lens.

Randell Adjei is an entrepreneur, speaker, author and spoken word practitioner who, in April 2021, was named the first Poet Laureate of Ontario. He uses his talents to empower and transform thought all over the world. Adjei performed the opener for former President Barack Obama at the Economic Club of Canada in 2020. An arts educator, Randell founded Toronto’s largest youth-led initiative, Reaching Intelligent Souls Everywhere (R.I.S.E Edutainment), which seeks to create safe and inclusive spaces for youth to express themselves in positive ways. In 2018, R.I.S.E received the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Mayor’s Youth Award. A Scarborough Walk of Fame inductee (2022), Adjei also holds CBC Metro Morning’s Torontonian of the Year award (2015) and NOW Magazine’s Local Hero award (2017).

Three artists respond to The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery’s Winter 2024 Exhibitions in a video for the inaugural edition of KUUMBA 365. Artists Randell Adjei, Dwayne Morgan and Paulina O’Kieffe-Anthony chose one or more works to respond to through the Black cultural lens using spoken word. Their creative process was documented through diary entries and personal interviews.