Decolonial Futures
Decolonial Futures is an exchange programme organised between the Sandberg Instituut, the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and Framer Framed in Amsterdam as well as Funda Community College in Soweto, South Africa. The programme was inspired by the desire to work collectively towards a decolonial future in which an equal exchange of knowledges and perspectives from students working across the disciplines of art and design could be established.
This year's program is divided in two terms. Each term will focus on a specific project or thematic informed by some of the current efforts undertaken by counter-hegemonic movements and initiatives around the world. In other words, the projects - by the nature of the participants 'and their institutions' endeavors and practices - will be centered around questions of decolonization in the context of art and education.
Follow along with the first term and the reading list here.
First Term: 2020
In the first term participants in Amsterdam and Soweto will collaborate directly with each other and work towards a collective project. The participants in Amsterdam will familiarize themselves with Funda's socio-cultural context which is inseparable from the rich history of Soweto and South Africa at large. Both groups of participants will be invited to think critically and reflect on their position and the tensions between local and global narratives. Participants will commit to work collectively in order to conceptualize a suitable and critical digital space to host future exchanges between artists working in both contexts, and more importantly, to host the creative material that will constitute Funda's evolutive archive. It goes without saying that students are expected to propose additional models and strategies to shape the project. It is important to note that participants are equally expected to consider the methodology and ethics of such a project as being an integral part of the learning outcomes. In this respect, while the digital space is the stated ambition, students will deliver the template of their realization while considering contemporary tools in disseminating information to challenge historical and hegemonic systems of knowledge production. Curator and poet Ibrahim Cissé will lead the classes in Amsterdam in direct collaboration with the participants in Soweto. Students will deliver the template of their realization while considering contemporary tools in disseminating information to challenge historical and hegemonic systems of knowledge production. Curator and poet Ibrahim Cissé will lead the classes in Amsterdam in direct collaboration with the participants in Soweto. students will deliver the template of their realization while considering contemporary tools in disseminating information to challenge historical and hegemonic systems of knowledge production. Curator and poet Ibrahim Cissé will lead the classes in Amsterdam in direct collaboration with the participants in Soweto. Although the overlap in concerns shared by the two participating schools will be a starting point for this exchange, Decolonial Futures recognizes the specificity and singularity of struggles, inherent to their local and political contexts. As such, respective groups are invited to further complicate the questions at hand and inform each others progress.
Second Term: 2021
In this second term, Decolonial Futures will collaborate with sonsbeek20→24 under their curatorial framework which focuses on Labour and the Sonic. Over the course of 2 months we will look into traditional forms of African storytelling and the creation and transfer of knowledge via music and songs in various different cultures.
The classes in Soweto will be led by media practitioner and radio pioneer Sibusiso "General" Nxumalo, who will invite participants to create methodologies that aim to restore the centrality of orality on the African continent in the archaeology of knowledge creation, curation & propagation. In line with the search for an African identities and voice the project aspires to find ways to access precolonial histories and knowledge by revisiting, reinstating and initiating disappearing traditions and customs. Music, sound and songs play a crucial role here and each class will therefor focus on a specific song.
Classes in Amsterdam will be led by the musician and composer Sami El-Enany and by sound artist Shenece Oretha, who respond to the thematic songs Nxumalo has chosen and work together with the participants in Amsterdam to build a sound archive that will culminate into a radio show as part of sonsbeek‘s public programme. The final class will be led by Werker Collective, who will share some insights in their designer's practice and how the visual can relate to the sonic. The participants in Soweto will also contribute to the radio show.
On 9 March the term will open with an introductory online seminar that is part of sonsbeek's public programme in which Shenece Oretha, Sami El-Enany, Sibusiso “General" Nxumalo and Werker Collective will present their practices in relation to the themes of sonsbeek20→24. The introductory seminar is accessible for non-participants as well, and you can register via info@decolonialfutures.org.
Funda Community College
In addition to the Decolonial Futures exchange programme, a Winter School will be organised at Framer Framed in Amsterdam in January 2022. During 5 days, participants of the Summer School will have the opportunity to participate in various workshops led by South African invited artists, who will collaborate with local initiatives and art institutions based in the Netherlands. The Summer School concludes with a public programme at Framer Framed. The open call for the Summer School will be announced in late 2021. In line with the Decolonial Futures programme, the Summer School will be an opportunity to promote discussion. It is a proactive attempt to collectively and positively formulate ideas that can respond to the current and inherited forms of colonisation that permeate the landscape of South African and Dutch nations to this day. The Decolonial Futures Summer School is funded by the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK).
Organisational Team 2020 - 2022
The participants in Soweto are either studying at Funda Community College or part of Mollo Wa Ditshomo, a youth-led primary co-operative based at the school. Founded in 1984, Funda Community College (formerly known as Funda Center) is one of the oldest independent Black-led institutions in the arts sector of South Africa, established in response to the inaccessibility of specialized training in the visual arts for Black South Africans under apartheid. Built on land donated by the Education Department of the previous political dispensation of South Africa with buildings donated by the likes of the Urban Foundation and IBM, among others, Funda continues to serve as a critical point of access to the visual arts sector for young Black South Africans. Funda's mission statement is to provide alternative education for social reconstruction.
Dorine van Meel and Ibrahim Cissé (Sandberg Institute / Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam). Simangaliso Sibiya and Phumzile Nombuso Twala, Funda Community College, Soweto.
Decolonial Futures is funded by the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts (AFK). Decolonial Futures Winter School wordt gefinancierd door het Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst (AFK).
Contact
For more information, contact us at info@decolonialfutures.org
Voor meer informatie, neem op contact via info@decolonialfutures.org