2020-21 Season: Here We Are

A pandemic. A heart-rending outcry for long overdue justice in our country. A society that seems to find more divisions than connections, especially in an election year. We are changed, in ways large and small.

But, through it all, we are here. And we will be heard.

And in that hearing, that listening, and that stubborn, joyous fight to be recognized, the 2020-21 season at Intercultural Journeys is an invitation to imagine a new and different world. A world that is big and open-hearted and spacious. A world where context and empathy connect us across screens, distance, and barriers. A world that allows different voices to rise to the surface and declare — Here We Are.

The autumn and winter are full with Close Ups, as you are invited to step with us into the backyards of four extraordinary artists — Monnette Sudler, Elba Hevia y Vaca, Susan Hoffman Watts, and Pallabi Chakravorty. Four artists, from four genres that span history and the globe, but who are creating their art very much rooted in Philadelphia and in the present. In these intimate and verdant encounters we get a glimpse of a new possible — women naming and making the world anew through the voice of their art, sharing a triumphant Here We Are.

You’re also invited into the wonder of a new generation claiming their space with a resounding Here We Are!  Through the When I Sing project, IJ is stepping into a new way of working that brings together the exuberant voices of the Sister Cities Girls Choir with two stellar artist/performers — poet Denice Frohman and composer Ruth Naomi Floyd. This spring, you’ll get to experience their months-long work with a filmed original piece of music and poetry exploring the activist spirit embodied in the life of Marian Anderson and interpreted through the current experience of the girls choir members.

Over the coming months, we hope you’ll walk alongside these powerful artists — to be here, together, in this remarkable new season.

Here We Are. And we’re glad to be here with you.