Artist · Scholar · Executive Director

Shylah
Hamilton-Touré

I build decolonial systems.

Experimental film. Educational game design. Ritual practice on five acres of land in Guerneville, California. Ten years teaching at California College of the Arts. Published as Shylah Hamilton and Shylah Pacheco Hamilton in Sternberg Press and Frontiers: A Journal of Women's Studies. Screened at DOK Leipzig, DMZ, and It's All True.

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Dream layer from Consumption in 6 Acts, in production.
01 · The Work Film, Game, Ritual

Experimental documentary, 3D game design, and site-specific ritual installation across the African diaspora.

 02 · The Writing Scholarship & Press

Sternberg Press. Frontiers. The Society for the Study of Southern Literature. Color Theory.

 03 · Jambalaya Land & Lineage

A spirit-governed, land-rooted 501(c)(3) in Guerneville. Five acres. Opened March 2026. Inquiries: info@jambalayacenter.org
Featured Work

Three recent bodies of work.

2026
3D Unity video game · The Hidden Genius Project

GeniusQuest

Character render from GeniusQuest: The Guardian, a young Black woman with a natural afro in a dark coat, standing in a dramatically lit studio setting

A 3D puzzle adventure that teaches JavaScript through Ubuntu philosophy. Players choose a Genius character to rebuild a futuristic Oakland against the Hater and his zombie army, solving code puzzles to collect seeds along the way. Commissioned by The Hidden Genius Project; primarily serving Black youth aged 13–18 across six U.S. cities, expanding to the UK and South Africa by 2027. Platform launch: October 2026.

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2025
Immersive experimental documentary · In production

Consumption in 6 Acts

Production still from Consumption in 6 Acts: silhouette of a Black woman in period dress standing at the edge of a Louisiana bayou at dusk, Spanish moss draped in the trees, fireflies across the water

An immersive multi-channel documentary in six acts, tracing my maternal line across the Gulf of Mexico, the Southern United States, Belize, and West Africa. Research conducted during sabbatical with Maya and Garifuna women. Production begins December 2025.

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2020–
Site-specific ritual & spatial justice · Ongoing

Spatial Justice Ritual Archive

Ritual divination photograph: four cowrie shells arranged vertically on dark wood, two closed and two opened, documented in London

Site-specific altar building and ritual work to close doors to the oppression of women and children. Began in Oakland during the COVID shutdowns and has traveled to Belize, the UK, Spain, Senegal, and California. Indigenous divination methods determine site, participants, and materials; altars are built from biodegradable materials, sourced from the land, and returned to the soil. Web-based archive launching 2027.

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Selected Recognition

Sternberg PressFrontiersDOK LeipzigDMZ DocsIt's All TrueYBCA Political Power FellowAICADThe Hidden Genius Project

Recent Writing

Published scholarship.

  • 2021

    How to Manifest Ice Cream on Demand: The Afrosurreal Impulse

    in Why Are They Afraid of the Lotus?, Sternberg Press
    Read
  • 2021

    Moving Toward Decolonial Feminist Collaborative Praxis and Pedagogy

    The Society for the Study of Southern Literature, Vol. 54, Issue 2
    Read
  • 2020

    And Now A Return to Ourselves: Working Toward an Ancestor Reverence Pedagogy

    Frontiers: A Journal of Women's Studies, Issue 41.2
    Read
  • 2019

    Speaking for Myself

    in Color Theory, Wolfman Books
    Read

All writing