Arts Directory

About

Artist Bio

Bhakti Larry Hough is a multidisciplinary artist and modern-day griot who is president and artist-in-residence at NewWorld Arts of Hartsville, SC. His and NewWorld Arts’ mission is to provide inspiring, educational, and entertaining artistic cultural experiences that demonstrate, honor, and celebrate African and African American history and culture for adults and children in public and private settings through Bhakti’s multidisciplinary artistic expressions. He is an award-winning writer, narrative historian, cultural and historic preservation consultant, a jazz and gospel singer/songwriter and bandleader (The Bhakti Project), poet, storyteller, West African djembe drum and world percussion player and teacher, and former jazz and gospel radio personality, producer, and executive. His performances and presentations are dynamic fusions of some or all of these art forms and are often specifically designed and themed for the occasion.

A Hartsville, SC, native, Hough is a SC Arts Commission Verified Teaching Artist and juried member of its Arts Directory. He is the former director of the Sankofa Festival for African and African American History and Culture of Florence. He is also a charter member and former chairman of the SC African American Heritage Commission. His work in African American cultural and historic preservation in South Carolina has been honored with a joint resolution of the SC General Assembly. His work in South Carolina public schools has been recognized with a Business in Education Award from the SC Board of Education.

Artist Statement

As an artist, I endeavor to be the quintessential teaching artist or “edutainer” whose work transcends entertainment and educates, inspires, and promotes healing.

I consider myself a modern-day griot in the tradition of the West African griot, a keeper of African American history and culture through the arts who shows how my African American ancestors taught history and passed down cultural traditions through artistic expression- singing, playing musical instruments, poetry, and storytelling.

Solo, or part of my music group, I endeavor to demonstrate how African Americans created and practiced great art from the depths of their souls during great trial and tribulation and used it to vent their souls and sustain themselves, protest and soothe the anguish of racial oppression and injustice and instill racial pride in a way that has universal appeal and resonates with people of all backgrounds. I feel a performance has been successful when someone approaches me afterward and says, “I didn’t know that” or “I enjoyed that and also learned something” or “That made me think.”