About the Visiting Artist and Practitioner Program

Oberlin Shansi’s new Visiting Artists and Practitioners Program (VAP) invites artists, musicians, community-based organizers, and other experts outside of the formal academy to Oberlin, Ohio for short-term residencies. Residents engage with The College and Conservatory as well as local communities, businesses, and institutions in Northern Ohio through lectures, demonstrations, performances, and various intercultural dialogues and collaborations.

Since 1927, Shansi has welcomed faculty from our partner institutions in Asia to Oberlin for research, professional development, and academic exchange through our Visiting Scholars Program. While Visiting Scholars remain a mainstay of our programming and anchor our commitment to multidirectional exchange, VAP seeks to disrupt dominant definitions of “expertise.” The program celebrates knowledge and artistry that have been historically overlooked. 

Shansi invites VAP residents in consultation with partners in Asia, with special consideration for our NGO and non-University partners. We will host our next VAP residency in the 2027-2028 Academic Year.

Previous VAP Programs

Adivasi Arts: Indigenous Embodied Learning from South India to Ohio

During the spring of 2025, Oberlin Shansi hosted "Adivasi Arts: Indigenous Embodied Learning from South India to Ohio." For this two-week residency, two Adivasi (indigenous) musicians and one Adivasi community-based researcher from the Irula tribe in Tamil Nadu traveled to Oberlin, Ohio and gave a series of lectures and performances. They also engaged in artistic collaboration and exchange at Oberlin College & Conservatory and with a range of communities in Northern Ohio. Lectures and performances highlighted the intersections of art and community survival, explored the ways that Irula music reflects the soundscapes of the natural forests they inhabit, and discussed the role Irula women play in preserving cultural expression.

This program was among the first of its kind. Unlike traditional residency programs that feature professional performers of established artistic traditions, Shansi's Visiting Artists Program worked with musicians who were actively engaged in the process of translating intimate, sometimes ritualistic music and dance practices to staged contexts. This program encouraged community members to reconsider eurocentric ways of thinking about arts, preservation, and social change. In addition to serving as artists, the invited Irula musicians are grassroots community organizers who engage with social issues relevant to their communities, including the loss of land, opportunity, and livelihoods.

The residency lasted from March 21st until April 5th. Oberlin Shansi is has the wonderful opportunity to collaborate with Oberlin College and Conservatory, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Oberlin Public Library, the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Kendal at Oberlin, the Oberlin Indigenous People's Day Committee, and several other partner institutions and community-based groups in Northern Ohio.

See schedule of programming below.

Indigenous Ways of Listening: Irula Traditional Music and the Sounds of the Forest
Music Trailer