Behind The Red Door

If 2016 was summed up in one all encompassing, dividing political and social issue it would be this: Immigration. Due to the seriousness of the Syrian refugee crisis this has become the make-or-break issue in many political campaigns throughout the year, spanning from the UK’s European Referendum to the United States’ Presidential Election to name but a few. It is a heated topic that sparks almost-furious debate from both sides of the political spectrum. Everyone has an opinion on the subject but few really know the consequences from personal first-hand experience what it is like to actually be a refugee.

Writing on the Wall have organised an event in reaction to this: Behind the Red Door. It is a panel consisting of Syrian Poet Maram Al-Masri, academic Linda McDowell CBE and Gambian exiled journalist Pa Modou Bojang. They will lead talks in exploring western societies response to the current refugee crisis use their own personal experiences to contextualise it. In turn they will ponder the question: What can history teach us?

In Middlesbrough asylum seekers have had their doors painted red. As a result of this a number of immigrants have been attacked, some repeatedly. Whether or not this action was intentional to single out asylum seekers from the rest of the community can be hotly debated, yet, intentional or not, the action begs the question: how has this affected the community at large? This type of ‘mark’ seems similar to the Jewish yellow star in the heyday of the Nazi party. A way to create an apartheid within the community.

When the Guardian is reporting that Britain is becoming more segregated than fifteen years ago we have to stand up and take notice. If segregation rises in line with immigration then surely this will breed mistrust and alienation between communities, if we cannot live with each other then how can we begin to understand one another? There seems to be an increasingly apparent objective by some to create a scapegoat for the problems within communities. Labour MP Chuka Umunna said it best: people respond to the challenges of the 21st century not by asking “how can we solve this problem together?” but by asking “who can we blame?”

Join us on 24th May at Kuumba Imani Millennium Centre

Tickets only £4/2 Available on the Door

By Tom Chivers

An Interview with Christopher Lutterodt-Quarcoo: FUTURE|JOURNEYS

In the run up to Future|Journeys on 21st May, we thought we’d do some quick takes with the various artists and hackers who will be joining the event. First up is Christopher Lutterodt-Quarcoo, a London based artist who will be leading the ‘The Second Coming‘ workshop, an exploration of memory, slavery, genetics and how our past can interact with our futures…

AfroFutures_UK: So let’s start with an introduction to yourself and your work.

Christopher Lutterodt-Quarcoo: In short, I’m a ‘Cult Storyteller’ born in London, but I spent my early years growing up and traveling throughout Africa…

I find disregarded or lost perspectives and make them relevant, through time travelling. As a result I’m a Designer / Artist / Director & Writer and much more to come.

AF: How did you get started with your art? 

CL-Q: I wouldn’t  quite call what I do ‘art’ probably closer to ‘design’ but my work is somewhere in between those fields.

My interests are pretty broad in terms of topic but the themes are quite common; intensely personal (spiritual & emotional) experiences typically using a single psyche to bring awareness to a larger sample of people.

To be honest I’ve always been an academic but it’s only been within the past 5 years I’ve been able to really fuse the creative side of things with my academic interests. 

AF: Who are your inspirations?

CL-Q: I always struggle with questions like this, because the people who inspire me change from project to project. I’m more inspired by literature…quotables from books or speeches as a starting point then push beyond the poetics of it.

AF: Tell us all about your workshop and what we should expect?

CL-Q: I don’t want to give too much away, but expect to be challenged morally, and to understand views or agendas that you may not necessarily agree with and advocate for them.

AF: What do you look forward to the most about Future|Journeys?

CL-Q: I’m hoping for controversy; in the form of challenging truths or necessary lies. I’m looking for the beginnings and confliction of the audiences realisations… admittedly for selfish reasons. It keeps my mind as well as others searching!

By Florence Okeye - AfroFutures 

Find out more about Future|Journeys here

TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW 

FUTURE|JOURNEYS

What does the Future mean to you? What do you want to see happen? How can we make it happen?

These are the central questions we will be exploring during Future|Journeys, a collaboration with Writing on the Wall literature festival featuring a range of speakers and activities on May 21st at District, Liverpool. As part of the speculative fiction themed festival, we’re bringing our style of AfroFuturism to Liverpool, with our assorted gang of radical misfits, techies, hackers and storytellers.

WHO WILL BE THERE?

Throughout the day, we’ll be hosting a variety of workshops. James Medd will be leading the Arduino workshop where you can learn how to create interactive electronic creations, combining code and LEDs! Want to learn how to code, create a website or program your own game? Join the MossCode folk who will be running informal coding sessions – they’re friendly and welcoming of all skill sets, but you can contact workshop leader Ikem Nzeribe in advance for more information.

Perhaps more suitable for maturer audiences, we’re very honoured to host the fantastic Christopher Lutterodt-Quarcoo who will be leading ‘The Second Coming‘, a workshop which asks how past traumas can impact our ability to imagine and create the future. You can check out our ‘preview’ interview with him here.

Parallel to this is the Storybook workshop led by AfroFutures_UK sister, Nikky Norton Shafau which is an invitation for us to recreate our stories of the self. We’ll be using our imaginations to envision how this can be used to inspire and channel new ideas about what we can achieve both on an individual and a community level.

Last but certainly not least, our special guest panellists who will be speaking during the day about AfroFuturism, it’s origins and how we can all become AfroFuturists in our own communities. First up is Jon Daniel, an artist whose exhibition ‘Afro Supa Hero’ is on display at the International Slavery Museum in Liverpool, having been shown at prestigious museums and galleries like the V&A Museum of Childhood. Ytasha Womack, author of Afrofuturism: the World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture and founder of iAfrofuturism will also be speaking at the panel which will kick off the event.

The event is open to everyone. Whether you’re an AfroFuturist aficionado, funked to Clinton back in the day or just want to find out a bit more about it, everyone is welcome to come along, learn and share together.

Want to find out more? Follow the conversation on #futurejourneys16 or send enquiries to afrofutures.uk@gmail.com. Remember, its the 21st May so don’t miss it. We’ll see you there!

By Florence Okeye

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