Kindling Arts is Nashville's radically unique independent arts incubator. Founded in 2018, Kindling exists to embrace exciting original and experimental artistic experiences developed outside existing institutions.

With an emphasis on innovative process, the Kindling Arts Festival is a multi-day annual event that showcases interdisciplinary collaborations in surprising spaces, defying genre and cultivating authentic new aesthetics. The Festival empowers diverse local performers with the space and supporting resources required to take daring creative risks and explore challenging ideas.

NEW + UPCOMING

LOST NASHVILLE

Found Movement Group + Kindling Arts Festival

in partnership with the Arts & Business Council and Metro Parks Cultural Arts

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Spring 2021 Performances on Saturdays: April 10th & 24th and May 8th & 22nd

7pm - 9:30pm

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Found Movement Group, Nashville’s leading site-specific dance company, and Kindling Arts Festival present LOST NASHVILLE, an elevated scavenger hunt that leads to theatrical performances throughout the city. If the game is played right, guests will collect evidence from hidden theatrical scenes of dance, art, and music at our city's most incredible sites and venues. LOST NASHVILLE will leave spectators with a unique and unforgettable experience at an unprecedented time in history - and above all, we hope, with a sense of community, unity, and discovery-within.

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Covid-19 protocols, including masks and social distancing, will be observed during all performances.

Want to know more? Check out the FAQ's.

HEROIC COUPLETS

A Poetry into Film Collaboration

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A co-presentation with Defy Film Festival 

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A unique cross-genre collaboration, Heroic Couplets pairs 12 local poets with 13 local filmmakers to create cinematic works based on individual poems, mostly written in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. The diverse list of participating artist includes poets  Ciona Rouse, Meg Wade, Dan Hoy, and Alora Young, and filmmakers Drew Maynard, Sophia Gordon, Angell Foster, and John Warren. 

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Premiere screenings hosted by OZ Arts:

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Friday, May 7th at 8pm

Saturday, May 8th at 2pm, 5pm, and 8pm

SEVEN

Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva

Developed in partnership with Fashion is for Every Body, Women of Color Collaborative, and abrasiveMedia

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SEVEN is a unique interdisciplinary performance film project that confronts the intersection of Blackness and Fatness through the lens of the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Heavenly Virtues. By tackling these often marginalized topics through her personal experiences, renowned local actress and writer Jennifer Whitcomb-Oliva opens the field to discuss issues of mental health, sexual health, and spirituality that uniquely relate to Black women. SEVEN is currently in development, including several community engagement events throughout Spring 2021.