Events
Conferences, talks & workshops for PGRs
- This event has passed.
BCMCR Research Seminar: Screen Cultures
April 25, 2018 @ 4:00 pm - April 27, 2018 @ 5:30 pm
BCMCR Research Seminar – Screen Cultures – Special session on Afrofuturism
1600-1730 Wednesday 25 April
P424, Parkside, Birmingham City University
Free registration at this link
P424, Parkside, Birmingham City University
Free registration at this link
Juice Aleem – What is Afrofuturism?
Juice will be going through the roots of Afrofuturism in regard to what it is and what it can be. Showcasing where we might see it in common sight and also how and when these things came about. Cross positioning his own background in music and art to excerpts from his book, Juice also looks beneath the surface of the shiny and the well-known. The roots of these movements have great real-life applications far removed from Hollywood and Urb*n radio playlists.
A Black Panther or Janelle Monae might have people falling over themselves in recognition of Afrofuturist memes but Juice will go on to explore how and why these phenomena have arisen and how to prepare for the future today.
Erik Steinskog – Afrofuturism and Sonic Fiction
Erik will present the framwork for his recent book Afrofuturism and Black Sound Studies by talking two somewhat different points of departure: 1) the definitions of the term “Afrofuturism” (from when Mark Dery coined the term, in 1993 and via discussions up to current research, including “Afrofuturism 2.0”) and 2) Kodwo Eshun’s term “sonic fiction” (from his book More Brilliant Than The Sun). The focus will be how music and sound participate in fictions, tell fictions, are fictions in a world-building sense. As musical/sonic examples he will focus in particular on some versions of imagining the sounds of the future, across different musical genres, but also as sound-track to science fiction films.
About the speakers:
Erik Steinskog (b. 1969). Associate professor in musicology, Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, University of Copenhagen. Recent publications: Afrofuturism and Black Sound Studies: Culture, Technology, and Things to Come(Palgrave, 2018), “Performing race and gender: Erykah Badu between post-soul and Afrofuturism” (2017), “Analog Girl in a Digital World: Erykah Badu’s Vocal Negotiations of the Human” (2016).
Juice Aleem has long been acknowledged as one of the finest MCs the UK has ever produced. In addition to his work as a member of the groups New Flesh and The Infesticons, Juice Aleem has also worked with Coldcut, Hexstatic, Adam Freeland, Dj Kentaro and many, many others.
He is also the voice of Alpha Prhyme, the MC featured on the very first Big Dada single, “Misanthropic.” In 2009, he released his first solo album, once again via Big Dada, entitled “Jerusalaam Come”. Juice Aleem’s long-awaited double album Voodu Starchild was released via Gamma Proforma in September 2016, and his first book,Afrofutures and Astro Black Travel: A Passport to a Melanated Future arrived in the same month. Running workshops on subjects ranging from lyric writing to youth culture and Afrofuturism, Juice is also experienced in public speaking. Both of these traits have seen him address educational, community and rehabilitation facilities across Europe. Juice Aleem continues to be a powerful force both live and on record, as good for the initiated and the brand new alike.
Also see this link for video documentation about AfroFlux 2017, which took place at the Hippodrome as part of B-Side Hip Hop Festival.