Rashaad Newsome

Visionary artist Rashaad Newsome merges art, AI, and performance to create a multimedia tribute to vogueing and Black queer culture. Invited to stage a show at New York’s Park Avenue Armory, he reclaims the space from its white military past, transforming it into a Black queer utopia. Joined by global collaborators and Being—an AI ‘digital griot’—Newsome’s creative journey unfolds in this immersive documentary. Through striking visuals and storytelling, the film celebrates community, resilience, and the power of art to heal, unite, and spark liberation.

A visually stunning exploration of Black queer movement and technology, Hands Performance fuses vogue fem, ASL, and motion capture to transform poetry into a dynamic dataset—embodied by Being the Digital Griot, a non-binary AI—set against a speculative future and an electrifying score.