Talk by Black Quantum Futurism and Adam Rudder

Description:

A talk with Black Quantum Futurism artists Camae Ayewa and Rasheedah Phillips, and Adam Rudder as part of the exhibition Experimental Time Order. The discussion looked at the resonance between Black Quantum Futurism’s research into neighbourhoods and displacement in Philadelphia, and the work of Hogan’s Alley Society in ensuring the presence of Black history in Vancouver.

Ayewa and Phillips presented on their collaborative practice and the questions and themes that guide their interdisciplinary research. Sharing examples of past works, they discussed their engagement in community-based projects that draw from quantum physics and Black/Afrodiasporic cultural traditions of consciousness, time, and space. Their presentation also looked at the relationship between Western clock time and colonialism, imperial conquest, slavery, and gentrification. Citing examples from science fiction literature, archival texts, and non-Western time-keeping rituals, Ayewa and Phillips discussed forms of do-it-yourself time travel as a strategy to challenge these modes of oppression symptomatic of linear time. Throughout their talk, the audience was invited to consider a number of questions around the politics of time: How do you envision the future, near or far? Who does it include or not include? Is the future evenly accessible to all? How do factors like race, gender, and income shift the means of access to the future.

Continuing this line of inquiry into futurity, temporality, gentrification, and legacies of displacement, Adam Rudder discussed his work as the co-chair of the Vancouver-based non-profit organization Hogan’s Alley Society. During his presentation, Rudder provided an overview of the history of Hogan’s Alley and discussed the Society's role in sharing Vancouver’s Black history through community engagement initiatives. 

The talk concluded with a question and answer period. 

Video documentation of this event is available upon request.