Saki Savavi Bowman
Saki Savavi is an interdisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and healing arts practitioner whose work bridges Black American spirituality with cartographic exploration. Through her innovative approach to countercartography, film, and energy work, she creates transformative roadmaps at the intersection of ancestral wisdom and contemporary healing practices.
Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and now based in Southern Arizona, Saki brings a unique geographic perspective to her multidisciplinary practice.
My Mission & Values
As a Leyline Practitioner, I explore the dynamic relationship between Earth-based spiritual traditions and modern technology. My work re-members and reimagines a symbiotic connection between Earth's organic cycles and humanity's evolving role as contemporary Earth Stewards. Through astrocartography and energy work, I offer practical healing methodologies that honor both ancestral wisdom and present-day needs.
Right Relationship
I am committed to practicing ethical engagement with the cultures, systems, and communities I encounter and commune with. This means acknowledging historical contexts, respecting indigenous knowledge systems, and creating work that centers marginalized perspectives.
Curiosity
Curiosity serves as one of my most trusted guides throughout my journey. It has inspired growth, expanded my capacity to engage with discomfort, and reminded me not to take myself (or life) too seriously. I believe there is profound medicine in playful exploration and open-minded inquiry across disciplines—from traditional cartography to spiritual practice.
Re-membering
There are numerous conditions and systems contributing to the harm of our planet, communities, and families. This value remains especially sacred as it grounds my why. I am deeply motivated by the commitment to being a change agent—first for myself, then for my family, and ultimately for the broader community. My film work and map-making serve as tools for re-centering narratives that have been historically marginalized.
Where It’s Headed
Although afro-indigenous waters flow through my bloodline, my lived experience has been disconnected from these layers of heritage. The pain of cultural, biological, and linguistic displacement has inspired what I call "Mud Work"—acknowledging the muddy waters that formed me while creating healthy clay to mold my life from.
This process has developed my capacity to engage with the particular pain that comes with being "African American." I look forward to deepening this relationship across artistic mediums, including film, cartography, and mixed media installations. There are many soils that made This Body, and mapping these connections forms the foundation of my creative and healing practice.
Sprouted Seeds
I'm a Gender Expansive woman with deep roots along the American East Coast. Born and raised in Philadelphia within the Salafi sect of Islam, I experienced my first encounters with more-than-human realms early in life. These experiences illuminated two critical insights: the complex relationship religion maintains with the non-corporeal, and the profound ways religion has shaped "African American" identity and experience.
The past decade has led me on a journey through multiple artistic mediums, ultimately shaping my current literary and visual focus on countercartography—using maps to reshape and expand colonial narratives while exploring new pathways for wayfinding and healing.
Academically: I studied at Morgan State University and hold the distinction of being the first federally registered Arts2Work Apprentice in the nation. Currently, I serve as the Community Manager for a thriving network of international filmmakers, where I continue to advocate for diverse storytelling perspectives and map-based narrative techniques.
