Emeka Ekwelum

Nnaemeka (Emeka) Ekwelum is a transnational and transdisciplinary researcher, curator and educator from Boston, MA. He is also a fiber/installation artist who uses the craft of weaving to create textiles and sculptural installations that honor structural and interpersonal experiences of love and loss. Emeka currently lives in Chicago, IL, where he is completing his PhD in Black Studies at Northwestern University. His scholarly and creative work examine how friendship and collaborative art making help to amplify social and cultural narratives that care-fully respond to the political conditions of Black life globally. As a cultural worker/curator, Emeka is committed to designing and facilitating artful experiences that promote communal gathering, social connection, and thoughtful provocation/discourse. Since 2018, he has curated public installations and exhibitions at historic and notable institutions such as Chicago’s South Side Community Arts Center and San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. In 2023, he co-launched AfroDisco Social Hour, a series of thoughtfully-curated events and programs that reimagine how the intimacy of social spaces and hospitality venues can be used to cultivate creativity, collaborative friendship, and community building. Through his capacity as AfroDisco Social Hour’s Director of Art & Engagement, he and his co-founder/co-curator Alexandria Eregbu produce intentional and purpose-driven experiences that are primarily responsive to the feedback, challenges, needs, and desires of Chicago’s Black diaspora.