About Makana Muanga

Self-declarative-statement

Makana Muanga was active in the San Diego poetry, performance and music communities after escaping the clutches of Manhattan in the early 1990s. 

Muanga contributed to the musical performance troupe Elysian for several years. In 1994 he co-founded the Auburn Diatribe Collective, which combined urban style spoken word and Beat poetry with traditional rhythms from the African Diaspora. In 2003, Muanga had the opportunity to conceive, curate and direct Downsized: An Urban Ritual of the Legacy of Poverty. This was an evening length staged, multi-cast, scored, spoken word, and performance piece. 

Muanga has been a member of many bands including: Trippin’ In Polyester and Your New Gods. He has had fruitful collaborations with the multidisciplinary performance ensemble Embodiment Project as well as the visual artist Adia Millet. His ongoing project is, Makana’s Red Artifact.