Bombyx Center for Arts & Equity

Kombilesa Mi comes from the first free Black township in the Americas. Colombian rhythms and instruments are overlaid with Palenquero rap in a joyful music that preserves an endangered language, traditional instruments, and pitches it fiercely into the future.

Their performance at Bombyx will be a highlight of our 2022 outdoor series — a chance for cultural exchange and a dazzling look at what a group of young Afro-Colombian musicians have accomplished to preserve language and tradition while innovating a new musical form. Palenquero is a hybrid language of Bantu, Spanish, Portuguese, and French. Their sound is inspired and influenced by U.S. rap but centered on their Afro-Colombian heritage.

Kombilesa Mi will arrive earlier in the day to offer a free drum/voice workshop to the local community in the backyard of the arts center. And a week prior to the engagement, members of the band will join moderators from Bombyx and Space Gallery in an online Q&A.