Salvador, Bahia Brazil - November 29-30, 2024
Our team visited the Festival Afrofuturismo – Ano VI in Salvador, Bahia, where we explored innovative approaches to imagining and building futures through the lens of African heritage and technology.
This year's festival, themed "Adinkras – o código fonte da liberdade" (Adinkras – the source code of freedom), transformed Salvador's Historic Center into a futuristic city for two days. The event showcased how the Asante people of Ghana's symbolic language system serves as both ancestral knowledge and a framework for imagining liberated futures.
As the Techniques of Futuring project, we're constantly seeking diverse methodologies and perspectives on future-making practices. The Festival Afrofuturismo offered unique insights into how African diaspora communities are reclaiming technological narratives and creating alternative futures rooted in ancestral wisdom.
Key Events We Attended
1. "Ancestrais do Futuro: Construindo uma Nova Cosmovisão para o Amanhã"
We participated in Grazi Mendes' opening talk where she introduced her new book and explored how Afrofuturism creates a cosmovision for tomorrow. Mendes, recognized as one of the 100 most influential Afro-descendant futurists globally by MIPAD, offered powerful frameworks for understanding how ancestral knowledge informs future-building practices.
2. "Afrofuturismo e Inteligência Artificial: Diálogo Brasil-Estados Unidos"
This panel featuring Curtis Jewell II and Lucas Reis examined the intersection of AI and entertainment through a cross-cultural lens. The discussion highlighted how AI technologies can either reinforce existing power structures or be reimagined to center Black experiences and knowledge systems.
3. "Os Adinkras e a Terceira Diáspora"
Scholar Goli Guerreiro's session explored how Adinkra symbols function as a philosophical system and communication tool that bridges past and future. The discussion positioned these symbols as both technological innovation and ancestral knowledge, offering models for how traditional wisdom can inform digital futures.
The festival's immersive format—spanning 15 different venues throughout Salvador's historic Pelourinho district—created a powerful backdrop for exploring how futuring practices can be embedded in physical spaces and community structures.
Connecting with creators, technologists, and thinkers from across the African diaspora has greatly enriched our understanding of futuring techniques that operate outside Western paradigms.
Visit the festival website to learn more: https://afrofuturismo.com.br/