Artist's Bio

Nerima Makhondo (Xe/They), alias ApodaSpark, is an any-media performance artist whose work spans performance, music, digital art, and theoretical research.

A graduate of Columbia University with a degree in Drama and Performance Studies—where they received the prestigious Austin E. Quigley Award—Makhondo merges traditional performance with experimental media, from digital collage to immersive installation. They draw from East African indigenous performance traditions as cultural reservoirs and sites of "rememory" (Toni Morrison), engaging historical, ancestral, and speculative registers to build liberatory futures.

Drawing on a sociological and intersectional lens, Xe addresses Black political issues, including gender, self-expression, trauma and mental health. Nerima's practice explores the intersections of Afrofuturism, digital identity, and embodied knowledge—using mixed media and interactive forms of storytelling to expand their approach and amplify their impact.

Esteemed for their teaching, Nerima has shared their performance practice through the Creative Advocacy Practicum under the Creative Action Institute. In this role, they worked with young girls in rural Kenya and Tanzania, helping them create theater pieces addressing social issues affecting their communities. Xe also co-founded the Queer African Network, a virtual platform providing a safe space for queer Africans across the continent and diaspora to connect, find opportunities, and access an archive of Queer African stories.