Saturday, November 15, 6 p.m.
KEYS TO THE CITY: An Evening with Kevin Jerome Everson
Film Screening and Conversation with the Artist
Newlab at Michigan Central
2050 15th Street, Detroit, MI 48216
Free admission | RSVP Link
Kevin Jerome Everson (b. 1965, Mansfield, Ohio) is an artist and filmmaker whose 300+ films capture the depth and rhythm of African American life with poetic precision. His work spans themes of labor, illusion, migration, astronomy, and everyday gesture. Everson’s films have screened and been celebrated internationally—from the Whitney Biennial and Venice Film Festival to Tate Modern and Centre Pompidou. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the Herb Alpert Award, Heinz Award, and American Academy in Rome and Berlin Prizes. Everson is the Commonwealth and Ruffin Foundation Distinguished Professor of Studio Art at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
Everson is visiting Detroit at the invitation of Media City Film Festival to produce a new Knight Arts-supported celestial film, which will capture the heavens from the unique vantage point of metro Detroit.
Film screening curated by MCFF Artistic Director Oona Mosna:
The Reverend E. Randall T. Osborn, First Cousin, 3.5 min, 16mm > digital, 2007
Second and Lee, 3 min, 16mm > digital, 2008
Playing Dead, 1.5 min, 16mm > digital, 2008
Key to the Cities, 2 min, 16mm > digital, 2008
Fe26, 7 min, 16mm > digital, 2014
Century, 6.5 min, 16mm > digital, 2012
Practice, Practice, Practice, 10 min, 16mm > digital, 2024
Polly One, 6 min, 16mm > digital, 2018
A post-screening discussion follows between Kevin Jerome Everson and filmmaker Danielle Eliska, moderated by Kelly Kivland, Director and Lead Curator, Michigan Central Art. Introductions by Rebecca Mazzei, Trinosophes Projects.
Partners: Modern Ancient Brown and NOVA24 Photo + Film Festival
Sunday, November 16
Poetry Release
Presented by Keith LLC
7:30 pm, donations suggested
Elise Houcek is the author, most recently, of From the Pocket of Agent Dickinson, a lysergic neo-noir poet’s novel cowritten with Zack Darsee out now from Inside the Castle. Her writing has recently appeared in FENCE, Diva Corp, Vestiges, and new_sinews. She teaches writing to kids and runs Ludi Juvenales, a poetry, art and games series publishing the immature work of adult writers.
Zack Darsee was born about noon on a Tuesday. He is the author of the chapbook BELL LOGIC (Spiral Editions), and pamphlets Efflorescence in Stucco (Earthbound Press) and Anzündkind (Creative Writing Department). Their collaborative book with Elise Houcek, From the Pocket of Agent Dickinson, a lysergic neo-noir poet's novel, is out now from Inside the Castle. Together with Nadia Marcus, he is the co-founder of TABLOID Press. They teach poetry workshops in various arrangements of community in Berlin, Germany. This work continues.
Isaac Pickell is a Black and Jewish poet, PhD candidate, and adjunct instructor. A Cave Canem fellow, he is the author of "It's not over once you figure it out" (Black Ocean, 2023), "The Smallest Mistake We Call Human" (Black Lawrence Press, 2026) and chapbooks from Black Lawrence Press and Dead Mall Press. You can find Isaac's most recent work in The Offing, Poetry Northwest, Cincinnati Review, and Copper Nickel.
Jamie Thomson is a poet from Northampton, MA. Currently in Chicago, IL. Chapbooks include Paper Myth (The Year, 2025), Are you my friend? (Copenhagen, 2023), and Possibilityism (Factory Hollow Press, 2021).
Christopher Ayala is a writer from Massachusetts.
Tuesday, November 18, 6 p.m.
THREE QUARTERS: The Cinema of Kevin Jerome Everson
Detroit Public Library Main Branch
5201 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202
Free admission | Link to RSVP
Kevin Jerome Everson (b. 1965, Mansfield, Ohio) is an artist and filmmaker whose 300+ films capture the depth and rhythm of African American life with poetic precision. His work spans themes of labor, illusion, migration, astronomy, and everyday gesture. Everson’s films have screened and been celebrated internationally—from the Whitney Biennial and Venice Film Festival to Tate Modern and Centre Pompidou. He is a Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of the Herb Alpert Award, Heinz Award, and American Academy in Rome and Berlin Prizes. Everson is the Commonwealth and Ruffin Foundation Distinguished Professor of Studio Art at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville.
Everson is visiting Detroit over the course of the next year at the invitation of Media City Film Festival to produce a new Knight Arts-supported celestial film, which will capture the heavens from the unique vantage point of metro Detroit.
Introduction by Paige Wood, MCFF Regional Engagement.
Film screening curated by MCFF Artistic Director Oona Mosna.
Grand Finale, 5 min, digital, 2015
Something Else, 2 min, Super 8mm > digital, 2007
Rhinoceros, 7.5 min, VHS > digital, 2013
Eason, 15 min, 16mm > digital, 2016
Three Quarters, 4 min, 16mm > digital, 2015
IFO, 10 min, 16mm > digital, 2017
Condor, 8 min, 16mm > digital, 2019
Rita Larson's Boy, 11 min, 16mm > digital, 2012
Partners: Detroit Public Library & Detroit Narrative Agency
TICKETS NOW ON SALE
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Thursday, November 20
El Khat
Doors 7: 30 pm | $18 advance, $20 at entry
El Khat
Doors 7: 30 pm | $18 advance, $20 at entry
In 2019, El Khat began honing their sound in garages and warehouses. Experimenting with DIY, self-made instruments as an expression of a minimalist life philosophy—while remaining loyal to traditional Yemeni percussive roots—the three-piece developed a unique Arabic-Yemeni style. Although their detachment from any nation or flag is a driving forc behind the group, the heart of their music and heritage remains deeply rooted in Yemeni culture. The constant divisions created by war and migration have given rise to a reassembled identity, one that resonates strongly throughout El Khat’s music. With three albums behind and a fourth to be released in 2026, El Khat continue to forge a sound that bridges past and present—keeping Yemeni culture alive while reimagining its future.
El Khat are:
Eyal el Wahab - Seer, kearat, pahit (self-made instruments), lead vocal
Lo tan Yaish - drum kit (self-made instruments), backing vocal
Yefet Hassan - Organ, percussion, (self-made instruments), backing vocal
Trinosophes Projects is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization in the state of Michigan that supports live programming, exhibitions, research and publishing. We are an independent, artist-operated entity located in the city of Detroit. Contributed and earned income goes directly into the hands of the artists we work with, so if you appreciate our efforts, consider making a donation to support our ongoing mission. Click here for a Paypal link.
How does your support help? Your donations go directly to our programming, publishing, media manufacturing, archival work, artist commissioning, project collaborations and regranting in the form of artist prizes, awards and emergency assitance. While we prefer to operate mostly anonymously and we’re always hesitant to ask for financial support, we recognize that now more than ever our work is important to the cultral health of our community, both through supporting, highlighting and perserving our region’s cultural legacy and by keeping it in dialogue with devlopments in the rest of the country and the world.