RASHAADNEWSOME

Rashaad Newsome has been awarded a Music Residency at Pioneer Works (February–March 2026). During the residency, Newsome will develop new musical scores for upcoming performance and film projects, including I Come As One But Stand As 1,000, Jhol, and Young, Gifted, and Black.

The residency will support focused experimentation and composition, advancing the sonic architectures that underpin Newsome’s interdisciplinary practice across film, performance, and emerging technologies.

In November–December 2025, Dr. Rashaad Newsome joins the Public Arts Trust of India to conduct research and collaborate with musicians from the local Langa community.

During the residency, Newsome will work closely with Langa musicians to develop new musical compositions that bring traditional instruments—khartal, dholak, Sindhi sarangi, morchang, bhapang, and harmonium—into dynamic dialogue with Western rhythms and tempos. The collaboration explored rhythm, lineage, and collective expression as living systems, emphasizing music as a site of cultural continuity and innovation.

This cross-cultural exchange informs a new film project by Newsome, foregrounding the cultural richness of Jodhpur and India while examining how local traditions evolve through collaboration, experimentation, and shared creative practice.

I’m thrilled to share that Assembly will screen for a full week at Cinema Village in New York City — October 10–16, 2025.

Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street, NY 10003

This run will be more than just screenings — it will be a gathering. Each evening we’ll host conversations with the directors, cast, crew, and community, inviting you into the world that shaped this film.

🎟️ Tickets: assemblythefilm.com

Join us for an exciting weekend as we celebrate Black art and culture during MoAD’s Nexus: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week!

On Saturday, October 4, at the SFMOMA Phyllis Wattis Theater (151 3rd St), we’ll be screening Assembly from 1 PM to 3:30 PM PDT. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear from directors Rashaad Newsome & Johnny Symons in a conversation moderated by Key Jo Lee, Chief of Curatorial Affairs and Public Programs at MoAD.

The excitement continues that evening at the **20th Anniversary Afropolitan Ball from 6 PM to 11:30 PM PDT at the Ferry Building! Celebrate with us on the dance floor and immerse yourself in an unforgettable night of culture and community.

Then, on Sunday, October 5, catch another screening at the Roxie Theater (3117 16th St) at 3:20 PM, followed by a conversation with filmmaker Carrie Lozano, President & CEO of ITVS.

For ticket info, visit assemblythefilm.com

Thrilled to share that my films Build or Destroy and Hands Performance, alongside my hologram sculpture In the Absence of Evidence, We Create Stories will be on view as part UNBOUND at The Museum of African Diaspora, curated by Key Jo Lee, October 1, 2025 – August 16, 2026. UNBOUND invites us to approach Blackness as we do the cosmos: a site of wonder, power, and endless transformation. Come step into the dark and unbound possibilities with us.

Assembly will be screening at the Out On Film Festival on Sunday, September 28, 2025, at 4:00 PM EDT at Landmark’s Midtown Art Cinema.

Presented at ACMI cinema 2, Assembly is a genre-defying film that merges documentary, speculative fiction, and live performance to imagine Black and queer futures beyond the limits of the present.
Led by Being (the Digital Griot)—a dancing, storytelling, non-binary AI—the film transforms New York’s Park Avenue Armory from a monument of white militarism into a living, breathing sanctuary of queer brilliance, resistance, and radical imagination.
Music, dance, sculpture, holograms, fractals, and fierce political truth-telling—all in one experience.

Screening Dates and Times:

Wed 27 Aug – 6:30 PM
Fri 29 Aug – 6:30 PM
Sun 31 Aug – 2:00 PM (with a post-screening Q&A!)
Grab your tickets here.