jaamil olawale kosoko
jaamil olawale kosoko '05, is a transdisciplinary artist, poet, and educator whose work spans performance, video, sculpture, and ritual to explore Black queer embodiment, cultural memory, and collective healing.
Biography
kosoko's acclaimed works—including Black Body Amnesia, Chameleon, Séancers, and the Bessie-nominated #negrophobia—have toured internationally to leading venues and festivals across North America and Europe. A 2022 Slamdance Jury Prize winner and Pew Fellow in the Arts, kosoko’s honors also include MacDowell, La Becque, and NYFA fellowships. As a curator and educator, they’ve shaped programming at New York Live Arts, 651 Arts, and The Watermill Center, and regularly lecture at Princeton University and The University of the Arts. Grounded in Black study, spiritual practice, and embodied poetics, Kosoko approaches education and politics as integral to creative process. Their work invites new vocabularies for care, liberation, and transformation across communities and disciplines. kosoko was a visiting faculty member in Fall 2024 and Summer 2025.
Photo Credit: Ryan Collerd