Unexpected Lessons—A Performative and Discursive Event (2021)
In collaboration with Chao Tayiana of African Digital Heritage, and independent curators Kahira Ngige and Rosie Olang, the Nest Collective explored the topic ‘Decolonizing Knowledge and Memory’ through panel discussions, video conversations and even a card game in development!
Topics of conversation centred around two areas of thought: Decolonization Labour is Emotional Labour, where we examined the skewed levels of discomfort, resentment and hurt that occur when communities who have experienced extraction deal with issues of object movement across international exchanges and The Other Objects where we considered landscapes, people, nature, built environments, spaces and colonial archives as objects.
Over the past few months, we have been exploring, imagining and unpacking the question of decolonization in a discursive event Unexpected Lessons, that was organised by Talking Objects Lab, a think tank, exhibition and event series that explored knowledge forms and practices of the African continent and strategies of mediation and visualization. The event happened simultaneously in Nairobi and Berlin in the context of the performative discussion event UNEXPECTED LESSONS, June 11-12, 2021.
The Nairobi curatorial team present “Decolonization Labour is Emotional Labour”—an investigation into the unexamined labour work that goes into explaining the injustice of object movement to Western societies and institutions, “Sentiments on the Street”—a segment that explored public opinion on the object movement debate, and “What I Felt / What I Said”—an interactive discussion about the price of honesty when power dynamics are skewed between states, institutions and people.
Renaming—a panel discussion on the sociocultural politics and purpose of naming public spaces and urban assets, featuring Nairobi artists, writers and thinkers Aleya Kassam, Carey Baraka, bethuel muthee, Keguro Macharia and Neo Musangi.
A New Behaviour—a panel discussion on the possibilities for post-repatriation object collection and preservation, featuring Nairobi artists, writers and thinkers Aleya Kassam, Carey Baraka, bethuel muthee, Keguro Macharia and Neo Musangi.