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Capoeira Brasil performed on Tuesday as part of the Raw series.

Atlanta’s true hip-hop beatboxing, a New York City poet and activist, an Afro-Brazilian martial arts dance and three UCLA alumni confrontations with racial stereotypes redefine art through performances that strip away preconceived notions of race, culture and identity. Irreverent and unapologetic in their honest presentation, these events are what the Student Committee for the Arts calls “Raw.”

The Raw Performing Arts Series is comprised of eight events that showcase performances dealing with topics such as the relationships between society, race and identity. It culminates tonight with Angela Kariotis’s “Reminiscence of the Ghetto and Other Things That Raized Me” at 8 p.m. in Northwest Campus Auditorium.

“We called it ‘Raw’ because we felt like these performances bring a different perspective to the UCLA community. We wanted to bring something that was not mainstream – art that confronts politics, identity, culture and race,” said Terry Hwang, a third-year international development studies student and SCA’s marketing coordinator.

Raw has included performances such as “Mic Club,” “Wounded,” “A Night with Saul Williams (and Staceyann Chin),” “N*gger Wetb*ck Ch*nk,” “It Goes Unsaid,” “Capoeira Brasil” and “Unearthed.”

“The shows tackle elements of struggle, which is part of the ongoing theme of the series – something that society should be aware of and help bring to light,” said Alisha Flecky, a third-year global studies and art history student and SCA’s artist liaison.

Theo Perkins, an MFA candidate in theater and cochair of SCA, initially came up with the idea of the Raw series. As the planning of the series increased in momentum, all committee members soon became involved in planning and coordinating the shows.

“It was like a full-time job for everyone in the committee, sheer manpower and business – contacting artists, managers, planning, logistics,” Hwang said.

The committee has been busily planning and managing the lineup of events since November. It also collaborated with student groups such as the Cultural Affairs Commission.

“It’s amazing to see the programming from beginning to end, from the minds of students and a couple of advisers who planned and organized the events,” Flecky said.

The performances offer different perspectives of the world – such as that from the passionate, part-Chinese, part-Jamaican lesbian slam poet Staceyann Chin.

“She is the opposite of an average, middle-class college student,” Hwang said. “The way we perceive race, it’s so socially constructed. You can be so much more than the boxes people put you in,” Hwang said.

The highlights of the Raw series for the coordinators were the turnout and the standing ovations in last week’s shows such as “A Night with Saul Williams (and Staceyann Chin)” and “N*gger Wetb*ck Ch*nk.”

“With Saul Williams, you just want to bathe in his words. Staceyann Chin has more intensity and passion than any other poet I’ve seen on stage. I would go see them again and actually even pay to see them. But the best part is that the shows in the Raw series are free,” Flecky said.

The committee, with the goal of raising people’s consciousness while offering cost-free events using student funds, handpicked eight performances out of the 11 it initially had in mind. It wanted to start and end with high-energy performances that have positive and inspiring messages.

Kariotis, notable for her performance on campus last year, is back with a show tonight that marks the end of the series. Her one-woman performance explores the creation of identity through place.

“They presented her last year so they decided to bring it back. She’s a dynamic, dramatic, fun performer, and she touches on serious issues but at the same time she keeps it light and funny,” Hwang said.

The myriad events the committee has planned to bring to the campus aims to attract various audiences, leaving something for everybody to enjoy. Students are the main target audience of Raw, but the series is also open to the outside community.

“There is definitely a social consciousness going on with each show. It’s a great outlet because people are entertained and we are hoping that they are left with a (feeling of) enlightenment,” Flecky said.