With the urban hustle and bustle of North Howard Street as its backdrop, the art collective formally known as NoMüNoMü unveiled its new location on the evening of April 15th. In its inaugural exhibition entitled Between Two Worlds, NoMüNoMü graced a public audience with food, music, and a provocative gallery of community-centric art pieces. As any attendee of the event will tell you, NoMüNoMü is a firm believer in creative expression’s potential in being a conversation starter. And over its three-hour timespan, the Between Two Worlds exhibit would act as the collective’s megaphone in fulfilling its mission to challenge society’s status quo with artistically driven dialogue regarding decolonization, resource sharing, and community expression.

With respect to the DMV, downtown Baltimore is about as prime of a location one could ask for—especially when considering the collective’s humble beginnings in a DC living room. Nearly a decade later, NoMüNoMü finds itself at a critical stage of its development. With its roots firmly planted in this new art space, the collective now looks to use events like this one to connect with Baltimore and the wider DMV community in hopes of gaining stature in regard to its support base. It’s still early in NoMüNoMü’s tenure at this location, but the collective is already establishing a place in the hearts and minds of many of the local attendees.

One attendee in particular, a young woman by the name of Niajea, was struck by the diversity of the crowd attracted by this event. She was admittedly impressed by the sense of togetherness one can feel when taking in the atmosphere of this art space, remarking “you don’t see it that often. You usually see a little separation here and there, or competition for who wants to be more oppressed.”

This is a very intriguing takeaway considering the fragmented nature in which conversations and initiatives addressing systems of oppression tend to take place. The curators of the gallery made a point to feature artistic voices from outside of their local community in Baltimore, going as far as to showcase work from foreign countries like Chile and Nigeria. Art in this context is intended to be used as a form of communication–one that transcends the barriers brought about by language differences while shedding light upon experiences of oppression that are not one’s own. The reception of the artwork displayed at the Between Two Worlds exhibition is proof of the value of this exchange of ideas and its potential to be a rallying point to inspire change-making in the communities we love. 

As an arts collaborative who prides itself on being sensitive to societal cornerstones like intersectionality, activism, and cultural appreciation, the sense of togetherness being mentioned is exactly the sort of thing that will help NoMüNoMü bring the ideas incited by the gallery pieces far beyond the walls of this art space.

NoMüNoMü also recognizes artists’ unique ability to call attention to community issues by supporting their position in society as focal points for change-creating initiatives. This support was evident when speaking to John Tyler, NoMüNoMü’s music director, who was in attendance at the exhibition. When asked about his inspiration for working with the collective, he mentioned “they're trying to make a difference in the city and be a multihyphenate. They just want to support artists from those who do music to those who do sculptures, or paintings, or activism, or printing–just being a part of that correlates with everything I'm trying to do.”

By engaging with artists who have experienced the trials and tribulations imposed on their communities first-hand, NoMüNoMü is going beyond what is traditionally expected from a curator. The collective’s collaboration with artists and grassroots organizations already seems to be setting them apart from the “whistle-blowers” who usually stop once they call attention to a social issue.

With a full slate of future events set to take place throughout the month of May, NoMüNoMü will look to cultivate its relationship with the DMV community and continue to challenge societal assumptions through the use of artistic expression.