IYABA IBO MANDINGO – Is a Djeli/Griot, a storyteller, who employs several mediums to bring these tales to life. A   native of Antigua, who migrated to the United States in 1980 at age eleven. His exposure to the arts came from his grandparents, a tailor and a seamstress who first introduced him to colors, patterns and tapping into your imagination. Iyaba studied fine arts at Southern Connecticut State University and today teaches in and around the tri-state area as a Master Teaching Artist.

He has published a novel “Sins of My Fathers” and two collections of poetry “Fu You Tongue Heavy Lakka 56” and “41 Times”, a third book “Season Rice” will be released in the fall of 2024. His one-man play “Self Portrait unFRAMED” had a sold-out six week run off Broadway after returning from a tour of South Africa and Nigeria. His paintings and sculpture have been in exhibitions in Japan, Europe, Africa, North and South America and the Caribbean.