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A valise dusted in black glitter rests on the floor of Clark Atlanta University's art gallery, not far from a similarly treated boat perched atop a pile of piano keys.

Nearby stands Atlanta artist Radcliffe Bailey, calmly threading wire around a rusty old gate, as if he had two weeks rather than two days before the opening reception for "In the Returnal," an amalgam of paintings, sculptures, videos on monitors and video projections.

Photos by JOHNNY CRAWFORD/Staff (ENLARGE)
Artwork by Radcliffe Bailey is included in the multimedia exhibit "In the Returnal."
(ENLARGE)
Artist Radcliffe Bailey, setting up for the National Black Arts Festival, has traced his ancestry by DNA.
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PREVIEW "In the Returnal" At Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries. Thursday-Oct. 6. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays; noon-4 p.m. weekends. Reception: 6:30 p.m. Thursday. www.nbaf.org At Solomon Projects: Friday-July 28. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. 1037 Monroe Drive. 404-875-7100. www.solomonprojects.com. Reception: 6:30 p.m. Friday. RELATED LINK: • Art fair to enliven NBAF lineup again National Black Arts Festival stories: National Black Arts Festival offers a real link to roots  Art fair to enliven NBAF lineup again

As if workmen weren't building a stone and concrete wall at that very moment for "Returnal's" other half, another multimedia installation opening Friday at Solomon Projects.

The sound of African drums coming from Bailey's iPod is appropriate. This show is both a drumbeat for next month's National Black Arts Festival, which commissioned this project, and for one of this year's themes — roots.

As part of its programming this summer, the NBAF will partner with a DNA research firm to offer festivalgoers — as it has several area celebrities — a chance to trace their ancestry back to its origins.

Among those who have already had their DNA researched are Bailey and his partners in creating "In the Returnal" — musician Marc Anthony Thompson and choreographer Fatima Robinson.

The three artists learned that they all had roots in the Senegambia region of West Africa. The discovery prompted an NBAF-funded group trip to Africa this year.

For Bailey, the return to the continent of his roots was not the epiphany it was for the others. Plumbing his past has long been the core of his work.

While Bailey's installation at Solomon Projects makes reference to Gorée Island, the departure point for many of America's slaves, images of boats and reference to slavery, for example, are not new.

"I'm always telling the same story but with different materials," he says. "The trip was about feeling more comfortable with what I do," he says. "It made me embrace myself ever more as an African-American artist. "

The trip was, however, the moment that the three artists bonded.

"We didn't discuss the piece then," says musician Thompson in a phone conversation from New York just before heading out to catch a flight to Atlanta to complete the installations. "But it was the foundation of something. It set the tone. It gave us a common experience."

Which was a good thing, because all three artists were very busy. Bailey was working on several shows, including one in New York that opened last month. Thompson was touring with Bruce Springsteen and making his own recordings. Robinson, who has choreographed for Gap commercials, hip-hop music videos and film ("Dreamgirls"), was in high demand.

The three would meet in Bailey's cavernous studio from time to time to share what they were doing and to offer informal critiques.

The process was organic, and often serendipitous. Thompson, for instance, abandoned the music he had composed for the project after hearing some jazz Bailey was playing in his studio. His new score samples from many sources, including jazz, the sounds of children singing at the beach in Africa, and a spoken-word performance.

Similarly, Thompson chanced to record footage of Robinson interacting with African dancers, an epiphanal moment when she discovered the eerie similarities between her moves and theirs. When it became clear that her portion of the collaboration would have to be taped rather than live, he was able to incorporate this footage in the videos he has contributed to the show.

The process is so organic, and spontaneous, that two days before the opening, Bailey is still planning an expedition to forage antique shops "for something to strike me."

So how does he know when an installation is done?

Summoning his Mona Lisa smile, Bailey explains, "It's never done."