Skip to content

Most Influential Seattleites of 2017: Inye Wokoma

Seattle Magazine presents the Most Influential Seattleites of 2017.

By Gwendolyn Elliott October 15, 2017

inye-crop

This article originally appeared in the November 2017 issue of Seattle magazine.

Filmmaker, photographer and visual artist Inye Wokoma’s recent work is documenting one of the most compelling stories of our time: the gentrification that’s sweeping Seattle neighborhoods, changing the landscape of long-established communities and uprooting the residents who have called them home. Using family photos and heirlooms, interviews with locals, news soundbites and his own written narrative, the longtime Central District resident steadily combs through the subtext of rapid development, redlining, displacement and migration to examine the issue.

In his first solo exhibit at the Frye Art Museum last year, Wokoma debuted This Is Who We Are, a video meditation on ancestry, identity and displacement that hit home (it was excerpted at, and one of the highlights of this year’s highly-acclaimed Out of Sight arts fair; he expanded on those themes, along with nationality, in his audio visual piece, “Allegiance Reset,” at the Office of Arts and Culture’s Borderlands exhibit earlier this year). His second museum exhibit, An Elegant Utility, a multi media show which ran earlier this year at the Northwest African American Museum, further stitches together the city’s unfolding story as, he writes, “a statement about how community allows us to know who we are and imagine who we can be.”

 

Follow Us

82 Million Tons of E-Waste by 2030. Now What?

82 Million Tons of E-Waste by 2030. Now What?

Smart ways to handle old electronics after a holiday upgrade.

Every holiday season, our houses fill with upgraded gadgets and the promise that we’ll deal with the old stuff later. Meanwhile, the drawer of mystery cords multiplies, and some items just get tossed out. Most of us mean well, but those castoff electronics often end up somewhere they really shouldn’t. And with about 59% of…

Going to the Mountains This Winter? Read This.

Going to the Mountains This Winter? Read This.

A new online tool breaks down avalanche basics for anyone planning snowy fun off the beaten path.

I’m a rule follower when it comes to the outdoors. This summer, my family did some backcountry hiking in Whistler and made sure to do everything by the book—texting friends our plan and location, and wearing a bear bell even though it felt a little dorky. It’s reassuring to know you’ve covered the basics before…

Historic Flooding Prompts WA Governor to Declare Emergency

Historic Flooding Prompts WA Governor to Declare Emergency

Rivers are surging around the state amid days of heavy rainfall.

As floodwaters swelled around Washington, threatening low-lying communities along rivers, Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a statewide emergency declaration on Wednesday. Ferguson says he’ll also seek an expedited emergency declaration from the federal government in response to the flooding, which is the result of an atmospheric river that has dumped multiple inches of rain in parts…

Barnes & Noble Is Coming Back to Downtown Seattle

Barnes & Noble Is Coming Back to Downtown Seattle

The bookseller will open a new flagship at 520 Pike, marking the largest retail lease in downtown Seattle since 2020.

Barnes & Noble is returning to downtown Seattle for the first time since early 2020. The national bookseller has signed a 10-year lease for a new flagship at 520 Pike Street, a 29-story tower, taking over 17,538 square feet on the corner of Pike and 6th Avenue. The store is expected to open in the…