The New Orleans Mayor’s Office of Cultural Economy has begun the virtual series “Embrace the Culture,” which highlights local arts and offers support to visual arts, literary arts, film, music, crafts, fashion, and culinary arts. The livestreams will feature different events to showcase the diverse collection of artists in New Orleans. Raj Smoove kicked off the series with an online set on Friday, March 27 at Gallier Hall for the Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s Lunch Mix.

The New Orleans DJ’s Gallier Hall performance can be viewed here, and viewers can catch his many weekly livestreams on Facebook live and Instagram live. Raj Smoove does online performances on Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 .pm., Tuesdays from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m., Thursdays from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., and Fridays from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. 

The next spotlighted event in the “Embrace the Culture” series is the Black Film Festival of New Orleans (BFFNO) Online Edition, which will run through April 13. The online film festival will present the short films of talented New Orleans independent filmmakers. Every day from 12 p.m. to midnight, the BFFNOtv YouTube channel will share a link to a short film from one of the gifted directors in the film festival lineup. At 7 p.m., a BFFNO representative will begin a livestream on the festival’s Instagram page and participate in a Q&A session with the filmmaker featured that day. Additionally, a showcase of poets, musicians, comedians, and other artists will be featured. 

The Director of the Office of Cultural Economy, Lisa Alexis, regards the “Embrace the Culture” series as a way of keeping local arts thriving during this difficult time: “We want to uplift creatives to increase opportunities, stimulate the economy, and preserve traditions through a virtual experience. Our culture bearers serve as a beacon light of hope and we value the importance of bringing artistic expressions directly to you safe at home.”

Future performances in the series will be announced this week.