MASIYALETI MBEWE

The Afrofuturist Village

The Afrofuturist Village by Masiyaleti Mbewe was a project that aimed to use various mediums (text, video and photography) to project the different identities, diverse cultures and languages that might exist in the afrofuture.

This exhibition aimed to imagine blackness in afrofuturism as diverse and equal and challenge the idea of space in afrofuturism.

The exhibition aimed to challenge the stereotypical applications of afrofuturism and ask ‘What if black people, as rich in culture and diverse as we are stayed right here on earth and claimed our rightful spaces?’

In this way, space and diversity was a huge theme throughout the exhibition and by the invention of future characters that might dominate this ‘village’ the ideas of reconnecting to our spiritual past and our physical need for representation in order to heal and re-examine our futures was forged.

The afrofuturist village establishes how the concept of afrofuturism can be applied to the African experience. By linking the various histories of African languages, post-colonial narratives and the desire to reconnect, re-establish and renew; the afrofuturist village expands the theory of transcending space and time in an effort to suggest inclusivity in afrofuturism.

The exhibition utilised the use of braille for visually impaired art lovers and sign language interpretations for the hearing impaired to make the concept of exhibition more inclusive.