About Our Founder
As Hollywood amplifies the dream of Wakanda, Leimert Park legend Ben Caldwell, a filmmaker, cultural architect and designer, is cultivating the reality of Sankofa City. Ben envisions Sankofa City as a Black urban future, a manifestation of the ancestors’ wildest dreams, where Black Visions and Black people prosper, all with the assistance of the latest human centered Afro tech prototypes incubated at the art center he founded: KAOS Network.
Born in 1945 and raised in New Mexico to the polyrhythms of Southern blues and jazz he was first introduced to film by his grandfather who was a projectionist at the local theater. It was there, seated next to his grandfather that sowed Ben’s devotion to “emancipating the image”.
Born in 1945 and raised in New Mexico to the polyrhythms of Southern blues and jazz he was first introduced to film by his grandfather who was a projectionist at the local theater. It was there, seated next to his grandfather that sowed Ben’s devotion to “emancipating the image”.
In the 60’s Ben came of age and consciousness in Vietnam, where his eye attuned to the oneness of humanity as he employed his artistic mind to practice pacifism in a war zone. He rejected his license to kill, embraced love, and shot stills to capture beauty in the midst of depravity.
While pursuing his M.F.A. in film at UCLA Ben joined the ranks of the legendary LA Rebellion and reclaimed Black visual narratives to positively alter the global popular imagination’s perception of Black culture and life.
In 1984 after traveling the world with his films, Ben returned to Leimert Park and opened KAOS Network community art and technology incubation center on the corner of 43rd St. and Leimert Boulevard in the heart of the village. In the early ‘90’s when his peers classified hip hop as noise, Ben, an O.G. disruptor, provided space for Project Blowed, the longest running Hip Hop open mic in the world, at KAOS. The space is also home to the monthly event Bananas, where young musical artists across L.A. showcase their talents amid an audience of burgeoning creative millennials. Through KAOS, Ben encourages intergenerational cultural investment in Leimert Park.
As Ben codesigns with local partners the future of Leimert Park as Sankofa City an Afrofuturistic community complete with autonomous vehicles equipped with Augmented and Virtual Reality technologies, he continues to re-imagine the immense possibilities at the junction of art, technology, and development for his community. (Kaya Dantzler)
A Retrospect
Brockman Gallery
S.P.A.R.C Social Public Art Resource Center
I FRESH
LA Rebellion
Electronic Cafe
CAP
HollyWatts