Strangers Meeting Strangers: Life Before Awakening
Visitors in the exhibition This Must Be the Place: Inside the Walker’s Collection, 2024. Photo by Carina Lofgren. Courtesy Walker Art Center.
Liban Kano, 2024. Courtesy of the artist.
Haley Purvis, 2024. Courtesy of the artist.
Tickets & Info
Participate in a captivating exchange of experiences at Strangers Meeting Strangers, a three-part conversation series. Over three consecutive Thursday nights, moderators offer the prompts of past, present, and future to initiate connection and banter among strangers. Each evening creates a culminating experience that brings people together. You only need the courage to show up. Together, we’ll create the rest.
Night 1 focuses on reflecting on our “first life”—the period before we gain a deeper consciousness of our existence and purpose. Through art-making and storytelling, participants will explore their past selves and the experiences that shaped them before their moment of awakening. Everyone is invited to listen, and further participation is optional. Gather in the Art Lab.
All registered guests: Please gather in the Art Lab by 6:15 pm. In the event of a sold-out program, a waitlist will be available in the Main Lobby at 5:45 pm. Waitlist availability will be announced at 6:15 pm on a first-come, first-served basis.
For more information about accessibility, visit our Access page.
For questions on accessibility or to request additional accommodations, call 612-375-7564 or email access@walkerart.org.
Strangers Meeting Strangers (SMS) is a Minneapolis-based social project focused on fostering connection. The concept for SMS emerged when founder Liban Kano returned to the Twin Cities after his time in the Air Force. After a decade away, he felt disconnected from the people he once knew. What began as his personal search for community has since grown into a platform that brings strangers together. SMS events range from large community gatherings to more intimate settings. Sometimes the events have specific themes but often they are just an opportunity to come together as you are. The project has brought hundreds of people together through free gatherings, including parties at First Draft and Burnt Chicken, a salon exploring femme topics, town halls across the metro, and outdoor meetups at Peavey Plaza and Loring Park.
Program Facilitators
Liban Kano brings people together. He is a social engineer and philosopher who thrives in the spontaneity that arises when humans gather in real life.
Haley Purvis is a dreamer who curates wondrously imaginative environments designed for deeper inquiry and reflection.
Free Thursday Nights are sponsored by
