MISSING BLACK TECHNOFOSSILS HERE

Project Description:

This interactive project is a nod to Tania Inniss's statement "the absence of Black representation in art" is erasure.  To disrupt this exclusion Quentin VerCetty combines historical research with digital imagery to honor Black Canadian community leaders. 

VerCetty understands monuments as an ancient African practice and seeks to reclaim it through this work. Existing examples of ancient Afrofuturistic technofossils includes the Sphinx of ancient Egypt, the Nuk terracotta sculptures of Nigeria, and the bronze Edo Oba monuments of ancient Benin to name a few.

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Key terms:

• Sankofanology -  the practice, exercise and study of connecting the past, present and future. 

• Technofossil - Any human-made artifact that can last a long time and preserve information like a story or idea

• Afrofuturism - A term first introduced by Mark Dery in 1993 and then expanded upon by Alondra Nelson, Sofia Samatar and Ytasha Womack 2013 and upgraded by Dr. Reynaldo Anderson and Charles E. Jones in 2015. It currently understood as a Pan-African global arts movement and creative expression that includes imaginative storytelling (like fantasy, science fiction, speculative fiction, and mythology) inspired by African resources (such as traditions, cultures, lands, and ideas) from across time periods.

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