Pass Blog
African Futures Knowledge Production: Where do we go from here?
“Who generates knowledge about Africa? How do past, present and future collide in representations of the continent? And what are the different languages we use to speak about Africa’s political, technological and cultural tomorrow?”
Listen to this talk on PASS. 31/10/2015. 10hoo-13h00
While the world embraces information as both resource and currency, Africa is busy working on telling its story and imagining that story’s future. Will this shift the way in which we think about information or data? Can fiction be a more accurate vehicle for telling the truth than news reports? And whose voices, whether relaying information or telling stories, will be heard?
On the 31st of October, 2015, PASS will be streaming the panel discussion “Knowledge Production: Where do we go from here?” that features Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi (South Africa) as the keynote speaker, and Ntone Edjabe (Cameroon/ Cape Town), Achille Mbembe (Cameroon/Johannesburg) and Keziah Jones (Nigeria) as panel respondents.
Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi is an artist who divides her time between studio work and navigating the field of art as social practice. Her work investigates power and its structures – political, social and architectural. Implicit in her examination of these structures is an interrogation of the invisible forces that create them, and imagining alternatives.
Keziah Jones, born in Lagos Nigeria in 1968, is a singer-songwriter and guitarist. He describes his unique and definitive musical style as “Blufunk” – a fusion between raw blues elements and hard, edgy funk rhythms. First discovered busking on the streets of London, Jones created a sensation wherever he played. Since playing supporting act to popular rock musician Lenny Kravitz on a world tour and signing to French label Delabel, he has toured constantly, headlining prestigious concerts and festivals around the world. Jones’ last album Captain Rugged, accompanied by a graphic novel about the adventures of an African superhero, was released in 2013 to great international acclaim. Captain Rugged was his 6th album since his first release Blufunk Is A Fact! in 1991.
Ntone Edjabe is the founder and editor of Chimurenga: a project-based mutable object, a workspace and a platform for editorial and curatorial activities, including the Chronic, Pan African Space Station, African Cities Reader and more. He also works as journalist for various publications and performs as DJ at clubs and festivals worldwide.
Achille Mbembe is a Research Professor in History and Politics at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Institute for Social and Economic Research (WISER). Mbembe is the author of many books, including On the Postcolony (2001) and Critique de la raison nègre (2013). His work has been translated in various languages. He is also the editor of the online magazine The Johannesburg Salon and the convenor of The Johannesburg Workshop in Theory and Criticism (JWTC).
Listen to this talk on PASS. 31/10/2015. 10hoo-13h00
Category: Articles, News, Pass Blog, Pass Radio
Tags: Achille Mbembe, African Futures, Keziah Jones, Ntone Edjabe, Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi
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Circum-Atlantic Conference: The Future of the African Diaspora
“Afrofuturism, arguably the most famous concept of speculative futures of the African diaspora, originated primarily in the USA, and is associated with artists such as Sun Ra, George Clinton and Octavia Butler. Envisaging a future and presenting this impulse was considered a symbol of liberation. How do contemporary artists and intellectuals of the African diaspora in North and South America, as well as Europe, envision their future today?” Listen to this talk on PASS. 30/10/2015. 19hoo-21h00 The circum-atlantic conference will …
African Futures. Technology: Means or Curse of the Future?
“Who owns technology and its embedded codes? When will we use software that’s written in Yoruba? And what’s the story with Ghanaian cyberpunk?” On the 30th of October, 2015, PASS will be streaming the panel discussion “Technology: Means or Curse of the Future?” that features Raimi Gdadamosi (Nigeria/UK) as the keynote speaker, and Teagan Bristow (South Africa), Jonathan Dotse (Ghana) and Waniru Kahui (Kenya) as panel respondents. “Technology in its current form (and particularly the representation of technology) is widely produced …
Category: Articles, Pass Blog
Tags: African Futures, Jonathan Dotse, raimi gbadamosi, teagan bristow, Wanur Kahui
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African Futures: Africa’s Speculative Futures and New Imaginaries
“What kind of speculative futures do artists from different disciplines imagine? Much thought-provoking work has been produced when artists engage with ideas of the future and how contemporary realities in Africa potentially provide answers to questions yet to come.” On the 29 of October, 2015, PASS will be streaming the panel discussion “Africa’s Speculative Futures and New Imaginaries” that features Jean-Pierre Bekolo (Cameroun) as the keynote speaker, and Sherif Adel (Egypt), Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum …
PASS landing at The Showroom, London
In the first week of October (7-11) 2015, PASS presented a live broadcasting programme of music, interviews and events with Chimurenga collaborators, The Otolith Collective (Kodwo Eshun and Anjalika Sagar), in London. Areas of interest included the work of photographer George Hallett – who used the book jacket and record sleeve as a curated exhibition space during the apartheid era; a critical look at the concept of and crude distinction drawn between Sub-Saharan and Arab Africa; and FESTAC ’77, the Second World Black and …
Kongo Astronauts: Au bord du présent
back in the Kaapstad studio
Dankie all who contributed and tuned in to London sessions (and Paris before them). Next pop-up in New York.
Category: Pass Radio
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