The first thing you notice about Malakhi Eason, besides his beaming smile and upbeat personality, is his hair.

It’s a towering creation, a woven golden crown sitting above braided dark follicles, running like tributaries down his scalp, creating an extraordinary work of salon art.

That’s just how Eason, the new director of programming and community impact for the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, wants us to feel about all aspects of ourselves. Hair styles are art. Clothes are art. And people are artworks, too — if we can only imagine it.

“Imagine” is the theme Eason has chosen for this year’s International Festival of Arts & Ideas. This is the 26th year for New Haven’s two-week presentation of 200-plus performances, exhibits, discussions and tours. Most, about 80 percent, of the festival’s offerings are free.

Because of the pandemic, last year’s festival had to quickly move to an all-digital format. This year, the festival will build on the success of that online engagement but will also position itself for live events on the New Haven Green — if Covid-19 numbers and vaccination levels allow.

Eason, who arrived in town in November, and Shelley Quiala, the festival’s new executive director, hustled to create a new gathering in 2021, not knowing if it would be in-person or virtual. The envisioned end result will be a hybrid of both.

The 26th annual festival began mid-May and will continue to the end of June, with its high-profile events happing during between June 18 to 27.

Included among the events are Jacob’s Pillow-awardee choreographer Ronald…

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