Chipo Kandake is a New Orleans-based artist, griot, and modern-day Josephine Baker whose work fuses performance, film, and cultural storytelling rooted in liberation and ancestral memory. A self-described gypsy, her journey spans Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Egypt, where she traces the origins and etymology of Afro-Diasporic dance and its deep connections to global culture.

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A graduate of Dillard University with a degree in filmmaking, she served as editor for the historical documentary The Story of New Orleans Creole Cooking, and curated public programming for Femme Noires, the acclaimed Mickalene Thomas exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans. She has collaborated with Grammy-winning artists including Anderson .Paak, Big Freedia, and Tank and the Bangas.

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Chipo’s mission is to amplify truth and freedom of expression through movement, film, and research. Her purpose is to preserve the legacies of unsung artists and Afro-Diasporic cultures while bridging past and present generations.

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She is the founder of Femme Funk, a platform celebrating the contributions of Black femmes to American music and culture, and Queen of the Golden Feather Hunters, continuing the rich Afro-Indigenous tradition of Black Masking Indians through Carnival beadwork and ritual.

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Chipo is currently developing The Chipo Kandake Revue—a touring multidisciplinary performance—and a documentary film chronicling her life as an artist.