We are thrilled to invite you to the launch of the digital TALKING OBJECTS ARCHIVE on January 17, 2025 at 18.00 CET (Berlin) / 20.00 EAT (Nairobi) / 17.00 GMT (Dakar).
Please register here to receive a link to the livestream.
The digital launch on 17 January 2025 marks the culmination of the conceptual phase, bringing together the core thinkers and contributors of the TALKING OBJECTS ARCHIVE once more in a moderated, bilingual livestream (English/French) open to the public.
Moderated by Aisha Camara, with artistic interventions and insights into the living archive, we celebrate the start of this new phase. We look forward to wonderful guests, including the archive's curatorial team, and Minister of State Claudia Roth – and many involved people will present their favourite archive item.
The programme of the digital launch will include, amongst others:
- An introduction by the Curatorial Team of the Talking Objects Archive: Chao Tayiana Maina, Isabel Raabe, Mahret Ifeoma Kupka, and Malick Ndiaye.
- Welcome Remarks by the Federal Minster of Culture and the Media Claudia Roth, who will also present her favorite item from the archive, as well as Rose Fields, Head of Program Arts and Culture of KfW Stiftung.
- A presentation of the digital archive by Chao Tayiana Maina and visual intelligence.
- Artistic Interludes by Nando Nkrumah, Alibeta, and Gladys Kalichini.
- Presentations of their favourite item from the archive by contributors of the archive.
Drawing on objects from the collections of both European and African museums, this digital archive develops strategies for a more expansive understanding of knowledge. The public platform is designed for researchers, artists, and all those interested in decolonial approaches to knowledge production. At its core is the question: “What might knowledge beyond European knowledge systems look like today?”
The dynamic digital structure of the TALKING OBJECTS ARCHIVE was developed in collaboration with African Digital Heritage (Nairobi) and the designers from visual intelligence (Berlin). The themes woven into the archive’s framework range from reflections on knowledge, identity, memory, and the imaginary to questions of restitution and reclamation.
The TALKING OBJECTS ARCHIVE is hosted by African Digital Heritage, Nairobi.
The TALKING OBJECTS ARCHIVE is funded by the Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien/BKM (Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media), the KfW Stiftung, the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the German Federal Foreign Office, and the Goethe-Institut.
TALKING OBJECTS ARCHIVE was initiated by Isabel Raabe. Curatorial team: Chao Tayiana Maina, Mahret Ifeoma Kupka, Isabel Raabe, Malick Ndiaye.
Developed in collaboration with: African Digital Heritage (Nairobi), visual intelligence (Berlin), and the Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire/IFAN (Dakar).
The digital platform talkingobjectsarchive.org will be accessible online from 17 January 2025.