On Wednesday night, artists and members of the community gathered at the Eno Arts Mill in Hillsborough for the monthly Weave & Spin open mic show.
The series first began in January 2023 and welcomes the community, especially members of the BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ community, into a safe space to share their life stories, whether comedic, dramatic or tragic. The Orange County Arts Commission website describes the event as "not your run-of-the-mill open mic." Each month, a featured artist presents their work to the audience by invitation of the series. They are then followed by an open mic, where poets, storytellers and musicians alike can be free to share their own work on the stage.
Morrow Dowdle, the curator and host of Weave & Spin, said that the series is a way to give these creators in the community a safe platform to be vulnerable.
“A lot of people have said, ‘I've never read anything out loud before, but I felt really safe here; I felt so inspired by the performer, and I just felt like I could do it now,’” Dowdle said.
For each performer that stood before the microphone and music stand decorated with a sticker reading “SWAG,” the room became still and silent. Each person in the room practically held their breath waiting to be hit with compelling pieces.
For this open mic, featured readers got 30-45 minutes to perform, compared to other open mics where they might only have around 15 minutes.This gives the audience a chance to really get to know the creator, Dowdle said. Additionally, the event is held in an art gallery, something else that sets it apart from other open mics.
“We're surrounded by beautiful, interesting and thought-provoking artwork,” Dowdle said. “It just adds another dimension to the experience of seeing somebody perform their work.”
This month, UNC creative writing professor and poet Carlina Duan was the featured artist. She has performed at other events before, but this was her first time being invited to Weave & Spin.
During the show, Duan shared work from her 2021 poetry book, "Alien Miss," and a collection of other recent works including poems, lyrical essays and experimental pieces. Her pieces, specifically those from "Alien Miss," were inspired by the 19th century Chinese immigration laws. Her poems explore themes of longing, exclusion and place.
