A Final Reflection in Conclusion of our Historians in Residence Program
Our Historians in Residence program which came to a sweet conclusion in August was a gift in affirming that when it comes to working with our collective histories and cultural memories, what is truly ours can never be lost. It goes without saying that for many African memory workers based on the continent, who are deeply engaged with understanding what came before and thus considering how this shapes our present and our futures, this task of remembering is demanding. A large part of this is due to the extractive nature of the colonial project in Africa and its preceding effects that resulted in “epistemicide, a dearth of knowledge,” described succinctly by Banji Chona. Practitioners and people interested in engaging histories face a lack of various resources but also sit with the pain that comes with grappling with difficult pasts.
It thus became clear for us within the actualisation of the residency that it is within the collective and within community that we find the support, courage, insight, and care that we need to be able to do the work that we do as historians. The residency became a space where we could shift our focus towards the persistent possibilities of this work, rather than solely focusing on the daunting impossibilities on the continent. Each session with our residents Banji Chona and Akanyijuka Evans became an exercise in moving away from understanding ourselves and the circular nature of history from a singular perspective. In our conversations, we were able to map out how particular cultural moments and focal points of Zambian, Ugandan, and Kenyan history were in conversation with each other and this presented us with the space to ask the necessary questions of the work that that we do, enabling us to ask essential questions and move beyond easy answers that conceal rather than reveal. It was an affirmation that speaks to the truth that history must be understood within the collective.
The beauty of working together also meant that collaborative multi-perspectivity was an inherent part of the residency. Banji’s project wove together various aspects surrounding “Cisita” that involved botany and metalwork also delving into the history of forced migration, offering a contextual understanding of her work. Her practice was also a powerful reminder of the importance of more consciously inviting the land and nature to be a part of what we do. African indigenous communities often lived in deep, spiritual awareness of the physical land they occupied, and this awareness and knowledge were reflected in many cultural practices. With our contemporary and present-day moving away from understanding how our lives are inseparably tied to our non-human kin found in nature, Banji’s work brought us back to a place of once again beginning to reclaim what it means to have the earth as our collaborator. Her focus on the botanical healing practices that accompanied the cisita made us all the more aware of the importance of working with a better understanding of how the natural world is inseparable from whatever it is that we make or create. Banji’s practice was also situated within the tradition of oral culture in which stories and knowledge were passed down verbally and which involved deep listening, the practice of going back to the source and learning from elders and communities that still hold this wisdom and the practice within their memories and on their physical bodies.
Additionally, Akanyijuka’s project was deeply placed within this tradition of orature. His project had us time-traveling back to 1752 to highlight a historical battle between the two kingdoms of the Rujumbura and the Ankole. He began mapping out what happened in the past by having conversations with different descendants of the people who participated in the battle. Within the residency sessions, he would give project updates- it was exciting and affirming to see that indeed, the passing on of stories through oral recount is still very much present and persistently alive. It provided us a space to understand that as historians we must look for ways in which our cultural memory remains vibrantly resistant to erasure and draw courage and inspiration from this. Akanyijuka, building upon this tradition of orature similar to Banji, was thus able to visually create a narrative by revisiting the source and taking the time to listen. Undeterred by the gaps he encountered as he worked to actualise his project, his collaboration with fashion designer Kevin Murungi provided a vital space to imagine and bring to life his understanding of that historical moment.
The residency as a whole, gave us space to name, voice, and hold the difficult weight of epistemicide and provided the understanding to see that this weight is held best when done so in communion with others. It provided continual moments of clarity regarding what it means to practically grapple with the difficulties of memory work here on the continent and also provided us with the language to name this act of grappling. The residency also brought forth great encouragement, a special kinship born out of truly glimpsing the healing possibilities within this work, providing us with the buoyancy needed to remain persistent in heeding the precious calls at the heart of histories.
As glimpsed through the enduring nature of orature held in both Chona’s and Evan’s projects, the residency was an enduring promise for us as a collective of historians and cultural workers, that truly what is ours is never lost.
📌 The article’s feature image is one of the historical depictions created by Akanyijuka Evans for his project ‘The Battle of Kagogo”.
In an exceptional edition of the Culture Catch Up Public History Talks, we were honoured to have our Historians in Residence Banji Chona and Akanyijuka Evans, join us. They shared their experience of the residency program- as relates to what they learned while actualising their projects “Cisita” and the “Battle of Kagogo”, through the lens of working within and learning alongside our communities of praxis.
