Henry “Box” Brown: Tales of a Magical Knee Grow
- Angel Bat Dawid
Western Front is pleased to present a new performance installation by Angel Bat Dawid, Henry “Box” Brown: Tales of a Magical Knee-Grow, developed as part of our artist-in-residence program. The work is inspired by the life of Henry “Box” Brown, who in 1849 subverted chattel slavery by mailing himself from Virginia to Philadelphia inside in a three by two by two-and-a-half feet wooden crate. Brown’s act of survival and self-determination launched him into a remarkable public life as a magician, illusionist, preacher, and performing artist. Dawid’s work reclaims his legacy and draws on the tradition of the “hush harbor”—secluded gathering spaces where enslaved people practiced liberatory spiritual worship and political resistance. In the work, live ritual, projection, sculpture, and original composition form what Dawid calls a “contemporary sanctuary of emancipation.”
At the centre of the installation is Magic Mythos Alter-Destiny Freedom Ark, fabricated by interdisciplinary artist Camila Vick. Built to the exact dimensions of Brown’s shipping crate, the Ark is adorned with gold tassels, sound-responsive plasma globes, and an etching of Psalm 40, which inspired the song Brown sang when he emerged from the crate. Inside, mirrors create an optical illusion of infinite internal space and a portal to mobilize Brown’s limitless and un-enslavable force.
Within and around the Ark is Song-Hymn in Five Movements, a new composition performed by Angel Bat Dawid (clarinet, piano, voice, electronics) and the Professor H. "Box” Brown Cosmic Soul Arkestra—featuring musicians Feven Kidane (trumpet, bass) and Camila Vick (voice), and actor Audre Steph. Combining live instrumentation, samples, and improvisation, the score creates a sonic passage between physical and cosmic modalities, channeling Brown’s journey toward freedom and ancient diasporic memory.
Tho We Look Through a Mirror Darkly Electro-Biological Panoramic Film extends these explorations through moving image. Inspired by Brown’s panoramic painting Mirror of Slavery (1850) and referencing 1 Corinthians 13:12, the video performs Afrofuturist hypnosis, incorporating Brown’s practice as a mesmerist alongside historical research and speculative storytelling to activate new mental states of perception.
Accompanying the work is Hermeneutic of the Portal: An Afro-Asiatic Eschatological Synthesis of a MAGIcal Knee-Grow, a sermonic reframing of Brown’s escape from slavery as an act of coded, spiritual mastery through plumbing the sonic circuits from biblical sources to contemporary Black musical traditions. Reading the Bible as ancient software, it maps the hidden systems of liberation embedded in Black sacred and sound practice. Its ultimate aim is to blueprint a sonic-technological framework for deliverance.
Curated by Aki Onda.
About the Artist
Angel Bat Dawid is a Black American composer, improviser, clarinetist, pianist, vocalist, educator, and DJ based in Chicago, United States. Known for her prowess as a bandleader and performer, Dawid leads the all-woman ensemble Sistazz of the Nitty Gritty, is a founding member of the performance research group Autophysiopsychic Millennium, is a clarinetist in Damon Locks’ Black Monument Ensemble, and tours globally with her ensemble Tha Brothahood. As an educator, Dawid teaches her “Great Black Music” course at Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center through Old Town School of Folk. Dawid also composes pieces for live performance, has scored television series, and hosts a monthly show on NTS Radio.
About the Performers
Feven Kidane is a trumpeter, bassist, composer, and arranger based in Vancouver, Canada whose practice explores self-knowledge, immersion, and futurity through the lens of Blackness. As a writer, arranger, and recording artist, she draws on a wide range of musical traditions and collaborative approaches, leading her to perform on stages across Canada, Ethiopia, and the United States. Kidane is currently developing her debut album.
Audre Steph is an Afro-Latina actor based between Vancouver, Canada and Los Angeles, United States whose practice is grounded in theatre and screen performance. Raised in Arizona, she began acting at a young age, participating in numerous professional theatre productions before training at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Los Angeles. With recent projects running from thriller and horror to comedy, her career in film and television is shaped by a love of storytelling, performance, and character exploration.
Camila Vick is a vocalist, poet, performer, and visual artist born and raised on the West Side of Chicago, United States. Her multidisciplinary practice draws on jazz, soul, and rhythms informed by her Caribbean heritage, creating work that evokes intimacy, memory, and nostalgia. Through both solo and collaborative projects, Camila explores the intersections of sound, language, and visual expression.
Accessibility
The Grand Luxe Hall is located on the second floor of Western Front, which is accessed by a flight of 26 stairs.
What to expect: This performance takes place in an intimate installation environment with low and shifting light, live amplified music, and large-scale projection. Audience members will be asked to participate in a procession as part of the performance, and seating in chairs is provided. As the Grand Luxe Hall is located on the upper floor of a heritage building, the space can become warm during summer months — guests are encouraged to dress in light, comfortable layers.
Alternative formats: ASL interpretation is available upon request by emailing info@westernfront.ca.
Further details about accessibility at Western Front can be found here.
Acknowledgement
Co-commissioned with Ars Nova Workshop.
Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.
We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.