Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) draws on his experience as a composer, activist and educator to develop an original, multidisciplinary, site-responsive art event wholly unique to Portland. A longtime collaborator and friend of Ovations, this is our fourth project together. DBR was last in Maine for a series of outdoor free concerts atop a flatbed truck in October 2020 and before that he led a massive street parade EN MASSE which closed Congress Street for thousands of community members and artists to walk together in art.

Inspired by Portland’s complex Black, Brown and LGBTQIA+ histories and contemporary life, through this project DBR aims to reflect the breath, sorrow and beauty of Portland, Maine, using live performance to mark, reclaim, help heal and celebrate a place or space. It is this call, this responsibility to revisit and remember what happened, to fill space with light, love, and blessings that drives the work and serve as a guiding light for creating a welcoming and safe environment for those who resonate deeply with its themes. As DBR explains, he intends the work to be personal, even familial, accessible, and intimate, and deeply collaborative where communities can participate as they wish — where they can hold vigil, hold space, and hold each other.

In development from January–May 2024, Maine artists from across all disciplines will be invited to respond in their own creative way to a new compositional piece by DBR and join in the culminating community performance — date, time and location to be announced.