A Mixtape for Mourning

Song Circle & Creative Exploration for people of African descent w. Nkeiruka Oruche

Drawing from her Igbo ancestry and culture, this workshop invites participants to connect to their ancestral cultures and explore/create song or spoken word as tools for grief and commemoration of loved ones who have died. Onwu Di Njo is part of Nkeiruka Oruche’s ‘Obi gbawara’m//My Heart Shattered or What happens after I die?’ (OGB) researching and documenting traditions of death and grief in Igbo culture, and the African diaspora. The session will feature an introduction/context, song sharing, personal connection, and creation time inspired by the project.

• Saturday, March 21, 2026

• 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM

• OVRHL

• Limited spots. Please RSVP to receive attendance info

About Nkeiruka Oruche

Nkeiruka Oruche is an Igbo multimedia creative, and cultural producer. She created and directed ‘Mixtape of the Dead & Gone #1’ dance-theater comedy about death and igbo cosmology. She is founder and director of Afro Urban Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to boosting art, media, and the tough-but-necessary conversations of the African diaspora. She co-founded and stewarded BoomShake Music, a social justice and music liberation organization. In 2023, she was on SF Playhouse ‘Nollywood Dreams’ creative team. Oruche was a Dance/USA Artist Fellow, Kikwetu Honors Awardee, a NYFA Immigrant Artist Fellow, and YBCA 100 Honoree, and has received awards from Creative Work Fund, MAP Fund, Kenneth Rainin Foundation, and California Arts Council. Her work has been featured in BBC Africa, Goethe-Institut, Fjord Review, Coal City University-Enugu, and Oakland Museum of California. She is focused on deepening and sustaining grassroots change-making, and community wealth through her work, play, and family life.

Onwu Di Njo

Grief Circle & Creative Writing Workshop for people of African descent (who have lost a parent, child, or sibling). with Nkeiruka Oruche & Michael French

Co-facilitated by Nkeiruka and collaborator Micheal French this interactive workshop will explore our personal connections with death and using creativity as a tool to support our grief and commemoration. The session will feature an introduction/context about this project, participants sharing their personal experiences, and guided creative writing activity inspired by the project.

This workshop is part Nkeiruka Oruche’s ‘Obi gbawara’m//My Heart Shattered or What happens after I  die?’ (OGB), researching and documenting traditions of death and grief in Igbo culture, and the African diaspora.

• Sunday, July 19, 2026

• 10:00 AM-1:00 PM PST | 6PM-9PM WAT, BST | 1PM-4PM ET

• Online (via Zoom)

• Limited spots. Please RSVP to receive attendance info

Onwu Di Njo

Onwu Di Njo: grief songs workshop with Nkeiruka Oruche

Drawing from her Igbo ancestry and culture, this workshop invites participants to connect to their ancestral cultures and explore/create song or spoken word as tools for grief and commemoration of loved ones who have died. Onwu Di Njo is part of Nkeiruka Oruche’s ‘Obi gbawara’m//My Heart Shattered or What happens after I die?’ (OGB) researching and documenting traditions of death and grief in Igbo culture, and the African diaspora. The session will feature an introduction/context, song sharing, personal connection, and creation time inspired by the project.

• Sunday, August16, 2026

• 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

• OVRHL

• Limited spots. Please RSVP to receive attendance info