DejaJoelle’s The Ceremony and The Sanctuary Explore Black Traditions of Love and Healing

DejaJoelle created an immersive experience named The Ceremony which will take place Aug. 14-16 followed by two weekends of The Sanctuary, an interactive public art installation, at the Public Functionary in Minneapolis. Photo: Binta Kanteh

For St. Paul-raised cultural healing curator DejaJoelle, The Ceremony and The Sanctuary are more than an art performance and installation—they are an invitation to reflect on the everyday traditions, wisdom and acts of care that have helped Black communities survive and thrive. 

Bringing together 71 artists, music, dance, visual art, an anthology and an album, the two-year project explores the connections between the Black matriarch’s home, the Black church and what DejaJoelle calls “Black technologies”—the practices, language and rituals passed down through generations. 

“When I say Black technology, I mean roasting someone is a Black technology. Being home before the streetlights come on is a Black technology. Taking the meat out of the freezer before your parents get home–Black technology,” explained DejaJoelle.

Beginning Friday, Aug. 14 at Public Functionary in Minneapolis, the immersive experience aims to create a space where Black people can see themselves reflected, reconnect with community and consider the healing that already exists within their own histories and relationships.

“Usually people gather at the Black matriarch's home for Thanksgivings, holidays, Sundays, [and] that congregation is the Black Church as well,” said DejaJoelle. “There's a lot of medicine in our gathering [and] learning in our gathering.”

The Ceremony is a performance that is an immersive experience for the audience that will include music, dance, and an art installation. DejaJoelle says developing The Ceremony over the past two years has been an immense gift. 

“We are here in love and softness and creativity and generosity,” she said. “It's easy to get into scarcity mode, but how do we amplify what we already have so that we can move from that place? How do we take inventory of the community that surrounds us, the love that we have experienced, the things that we've learned, and the wisdom that we've integrated.”

The Sanctuary is the interactive art installation that remains intact for the next two weekends after The Ceremony ends. In partnership with the Public Functionary, DejaJoelle says it took two years of careful, thoughtful and intentional planning and visioning to bring this experience to life.

After both events conclude, DejaJoelle hopes to take it on tour through a residency model that allows her to spend time in that place and bring in the local community to explore what the underlying concepts of her project means to different Black communities around the country. 

For now, she looks forward to seeing the impact of her two year undertaking on attendees in Minneapolis. 

“[I hope] that they see themselves as an active creator, as participants in their own lives and connected to a much larger web of healing and love,” said DejaJoelle. “I pray that people feel less alone and changed and reflected, everywhere they turn, they are reflected.”

To learn more about The Ceremony and The Sanctuary visit: https://www.bodyprayerspractice.com/