ON STAGE 2025
Elisa Harkins, Wampum / ᎠᏕᎳ ᏗᎦᎫᏗ
January 31, 20257:30 pm
February 01, 20257:30 pm
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About the Performance
Artist and composer Elisa Harkins (Cherokee/Muscogee) created Wampum / ᎠᏕᎳ ᏗᎦᎫᏗ as an expression of Indigenous Futurism, blending electronic dance music with Indigenous languages to revitalize and celebrate them through live performance. Produced in collaboration with the Center for Native Futures, this innovative performance features Harkins singing in a combination of Cherokee, English, and Muscogee (Creek). Back-up dancers move rhythmically to electronic dance tracks inspired by Indigenous music. Both dreamy and intense, the evening fuses tradition with the contemporary to transform how pop music looks and sounds.
The evening begins with a short opening set by interdisciplinary singer/songwriter Kalyn Fay (Cherokee/Muscogee). Known for her “quintessentially Oklahoma” sound driven by folk, rock, and country, Fay’s music explores her relationship with place, home, her home-state and its values, people, and the land.
Access Information
To request additional accessibility services like ASL interpretation or audio description, please contact us via email at [email protected] or call 312-397-4076.
About the Artists
Elisa Harkins (Cherokee, Muscogee) is an artist, singer, electronic music composer, and curator. Her work is concerned with the body, language revitalization, and Indigenous music. She has exhibited and performed at Crystal Bridges, Portland Institute of Contemporary Art, MoMA, Montréal, arts interculturels (MAI), and REDCAT. Harkins has received awards from Creative Capital, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the Harpo Foundation, and the Mid-America Arts Alliance. Harkins is an enrolled member of the Muscogee Nation.
Kalyn Fay (Cherokee Nation/Muscogee) is a songwriter and musician who fosters an additional interdisciplinary practice that interweaves visual arts, curation, and education. Born and raised in rural Oklahoma between Cherokee, Muscogee, and Osage territories, they are deeply rooted in their nuanced relationship to Oklahoma, and their musical practice is a reflection of that influence. Focusing on self-location, community, collaboration, and empathy, Fay sees their music as a way to lean into personal and shared narratives. Their songs embed Indigenous understandings associated with community and environment, navigating the ways in which we all intersect with the hopes of building bridges of understanding. Fay’s music is “for you, for me, for us, for we.”
Funding
Lead support for the 2024–25 season of MCA Performance is provided by Elizabeth A. Liebman.
Generous support is provided by Ginger Farley and Bob Shapiro, Martha Struthers Farley and Donald C. Farley, Jr. Family Foundation, N.A., Trustee; Anne L. Kaplan; and Carol Prins and John Hart/The Jessica Fund.
The MCA is a proud member of the Museums in the Park and receives major support from the Chicago Park District.