The-Rehumanisation-Station
This podcast underpins my Flippin' and Vibin' brand to flip the script on traditional or normative narratives creating inequity to the self, society, sport, education, the arts & culture, as with many other disciplines. My podcast covers two strands of groups who look to flip the script in their career, research, activism and sport through (i) hearing the voices and stories of academics, educators, community activists, students, organizational heads etc., while on the other hand covering (ii) people involved within sport (e.g., athletes, trainers, coaches).
The-Rehumanisation-Station
Sankofa requires curiosity: Utilising Black African art to conceptualise the past, present, and future with Divine Southgate-Smith
In this episode, I speak with our Curious Viber Divine Southgate-Smith, who is a trans-disciplinary artist. Divine Southgate-Smith's approach to art-making is medium, non-specific, and collaborative. This is reflected through a trans-disciplinary practice that comprises photographic collage, sculpture, moving-image, text, poetry, and 3D animation. Central to this approach is a meticulous focus on selecting, ordering, and assembling archival material. Southgate-Smith invites us to consider archives as temporal instruments essential to envisioning a future deeply connected to the past. The work evokes an Afro-diasporic counter-memory blending personal, literary, folkloric, and historical narratives to create layered, speculative spaces that map histories beyond prescribed contexts.
Divine and I vibe about her transformative work reimagining what her artistry is, how it is used and perceived, and the ways in which an Afro-lens debunks the homogeneity within the arts. For example, we discuss Adinkra symbols such as ‘Sankofa’ and ‘Bi nka bi’, as with understanding the nuances of Afrofuturism, and being a ‘data thief’ - or what we prefer ‘data restorer’. Our conversation attempts to challenge our Viber audiences’ perceptions around art and Blackness, and how the past is closely aligned with the present.
@christopherx_ab