Digital Imaginaries. African Positions Beyond the Binary

The two-year, three-city exhibition and research project Digital Imaginaries brought together artists, makers, architects, and social scientists to examine digital futures on the African continent. This book presents resulting artistic and scholarly productions alongside additional works.

The contributions in this volume deal with diverse digital phenomena: From the continued impact of toxic histories and the conflict-ridden extraction of minerals critical to the digital economy to video games, experimental architecture, the reappropriation of smart city and innovation practices, the commoning of resources, attempts to digitize voter trust, calls for digital resistance and decolonial healing, the relationships between humans and technics, utopia and dystopia, and the limits of reason. The contributions articulate imaginaries and agendas capable of staving off the domination of market interests, state surveillance, and postcolonial hegemonies. Starting from positions on the African continent and in the African diaspora, the works collated here contribute to the global struggle for more diverse and inclusive digital futures.

Video documentary:

ZKM | Videostudio

Camera: Christina Zartmann, Tim Wenz, Peter Müller, Hauke Jörgensen
Editing: Tim Wenz
Subtitles: Hauke Jörgensen
Production: Daniela Schwarz