Production of Cultural Technologies
This session is devoted to the demonstration of technologies associated with music -the Zimbabwan Mbira and the Ghanaian Seprewa – and the local production of chocolate two sisters. These examples defy the global monopolization and definition of ‘value’ by Western manufacturers and brands. These cultural entrepreuneurs make unique contributions to African entertainment and food industries, benefitting African production by adding value, while enriching global culture.
Gender, Decolonization and Intellectual Property
This session will highilght the importance of the law as a tool for decolonization and feminism by examining the possibilities and limitations of intellectual property laws. Currently corporate entities are able to utilize IP rights, and draw the benefits that come from registering IP rights, in contrazt to African creatives, cultural producers and artistes. Lack of access to resources and the framing of the laws around individual property pose limits to collective and communal cultural creativity, favoring external appropriation. This legal system need to be reformed if we are to prevent the ongoing extraction and appropriation of African culture by a external corporate entities, and turn African cultural wealth towards the benefit Africans.
Archiving for the Next Generation: What should aPan African Peoples ArchiveLook Like?
Facilitated by two leading anti-imperialist archives, Nathaniel Moore from the Freedom ARchives in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Judith Opoku-Boateng the session invites participants to share experiences that highlight the possibilities for new and digital ways of archiving the African present. Why should Africans engage in radical modes of archiving, what should we archive, for who, and to what end?