Rena Anakwe
About
Rena Anakwe (Sound designer) is an interdisciplinary artist, performer, and healer working primarily with sound, visuals, and scent. Exploring intersections between traditional healing practices, spirituality, and performance, she creates works focused on sensory-based, experiential interactions using creative technology. Most recently, she was awarded the 2021 Canadian Women Artists' Award from NYFA and the Canadian Women's Club of New York, a 2021--22 MacDowell Fellowship for Interdisciplinary Arts, and a 2022 Jack Nusbaum Artist Residency at Brooklyn Academy of Music. Anakwe was a 2020--21 resident of the Jerome Foundation AIRspace Residency for Performing Artists at Abrons Arts Center, a 2020 Radiophrenia commissioned artist, a 2019 ISSUE Project Room Artist-in-Residence, a 2019 Abrons Arts Center Sound Series commissioned artist, and a 2018 Signal Culture Artist-in-Residence. She has collaborated, produced, and shown work at New York institutions including Park Avenue Armory/NY Live Arts, En Garde Arts/Brookfield Place, Weeksville Heritage Center, Dia Foundation, Fridman Gallery, Knockdown Center, Lincoln Center, MoMA PS1, CultureHub, Pioneer Works, and Montez Press Radio. Most recently, under the moniker A Space for Sound, Anakwe released the first in an ongoing audio series titled Sound Bath Mixtape vol. 1 through New York--based label and collective PTP. In Fall 2021, her forthcoming album Sometimes underwater (feels like home) will be released through RVNG Intl.'s Commend THERE Label. She is based in Brooklyn, New York, by way of Nigeria and Canada.