“[I see] community as an extension of myself, and something that keeps evolving…[it is] not a static definition” -Akanyijuka Evans
“I liken community to a gravitational center that keeps one grounded… in my practice, community and communion to community is incredibly important because that is where I chose to learn” -Banji Chona
What a joy it was to usher in this fifth edition of our public history talks with a special conversation with not one but two exceptional guests, Akanyijuka Evans and Banji Chona, our outgoing Historians in Residence. In a conversation that was too dynamic to contain within our usual 45-minute/1-hour time frame, we explored both Akayijuka’s and Banji’s projects through the lens of what it means to work within and learn alongside our communities of praxis.
As an apt conclusion to our residency program that has been ongoing for the past six months, both Banji and Akanyijuka touched on the internal sessions of the residency program (snippets of which can be found on our social media). They also shared how the discussions on research methodologies, fundraising, and digital tools and technologies within these internal sessions wove into the projects that they were actualising.
Particularly highlighted was the use of AI as a digital tool to reimagine and fill in gaps in the archive. However, this use was framed within the notion that AI was not a final and ultimate solution, but rather a singular faucet that works within an entire framework comprising of things like intentional conversations and practices of deep listening that help to more fully give us room to engage with our pasts both in the physical sphere and in the digital sphere.
“AI is not the ultimate solution but it provides a viable solution in adding a visual representation to most of the elements we might have” -Akanyijuka Evans
“[I] redefined AI to mean ancestral intelligence as supposed to artificial intelligence…as a way for imagination to be materialised” -Banji Chona
As both of their projects seek to uncover histories that have been erased, Banji brought into the space the word ‘epistemicide’. Defined as “the killing of knowledge systems,” the word deeply resonated with all those who attended as it captures the painful loss that comes with the death or erosion of knowledge systems. The notion of also not rushing to alleviate the heavy discomfort that comes with uncovering and recovering knowledge but rather seeing it as a necessary guide to learn and invite a decolonial perspective to this form of memory work was so aptly highlighted by an attendee of the session. Care then became one of the portals to navigate the weight of epistemicide, with Banji stating:
“I am trying to work in a way that addresses the asymmetrical archives…so as opposed to working through academic resources, I learn directly from the community. And it also informs the way I treat the knowledge…[from a place of] deep respect…Care looks like a deep listening and tapping into what is happening around you.”
We closed our time on this notion of care, and spent it creating a functioning as a space of sacred learning. You can watch the full session of this public history talk here and engage with Akanyijuka’s and Banji’s work here and here.
Watch the Full Conversation here:
Inspired Insights and Phrases from the Conversation
“AI is not the ultimate solution but it provides a viable solution in adding a visual representation to most of the elements we might have” (35:33)
“One of my intentions is to carry on some of the knowledge especially in terms of digital reimagining that can contribute to what we can be able to come up with eventually as they release their book” (40:18)
“We carry memory boxes handed over to us by our ancestors and within these memory boxes are experiences that we are almost in a way destined to have.”
“And for me it was really quite a beautiful thing to delve into this relationship BaTonga have with the earth and with alchemising from the earth.”
“In essence the focus…is the centering and radical repositioning of the freedom of expression of BaTonga women both historically and in the contemporary sense as expressed through their symbiotic relationship to the earth, to botany as reflected in their various processes.”
“Redefined AI to mean ancestral intelligence as opposed to artificial intelligence…as a way for imagination to be materialised.”
“Epistemicide”
“Exist both in the digital sphere and in the physical sphere “
“Community as an extension of myself, and something that keeps evolving…[it is] not a static definition”
“Liken community to a gravitational centre that keeps one grounded and in my practice community and communion to community is incredibly important because that is where I chose to learn. As I mentioned I am trying to work in a way that addresses the asymmetrical archives…so as opposed to working through academic resources, I learn directly from the community. And it also informs the way I treat the knowledge…[from a place of] deep respect.”
“Care looks like deep listening and tapping into what is happening around you.”
