Radio Imagination

Radio Imagination celebrates the life and work of science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler. Organized by Clockshop, the 2016 program centers on 10 commissions that explore Butler’s papers at the Huntington Library.

Recognition of Butler’s influence across artistic disciplines and her contribution to the Los Angeles cultural landscape is long overdue. Radio Imagination will bridge Butler’s groundbreaking fiction with contemporary conversations about the future of Los Angeles. The series will span 2016, the tenth anniversary of the writer’s death.

Radio Imagination artists and writers will conduct first-hand research in Butler’s archive at the Huntington Library and create new work based on their findings. New poetry and creative nonfiction by Tisa Bryant, Lynell George, Robin Coste Lewis, and Fred Moten will premiere at a public reading event. New contemporary artworks by Laylah Ali, Lauren Halsey, Malik Gaines and Alexandro Segade, Mendi + Keith Obadike, Connie Samaras, and Cauleen Smith will be presented in an exhibition at Armory Center for the Arts (October 1, 2016–January 7, 2017). Other public programs will round out this year of programming, including musical, scholarly and filmic investigations into Butler’s legacy.

Radio Imagination is curated by Clockshop.