Urgent utopias and Future Trends in urban Africa

On October 7th, in the framework of an exhibition called #FutureTrends co-curated by the architect and urbanist Dele Adeyemo, Jenny was invited to participate in a panel discussion on the theme of ‘urgent utopias’ examining the wider urban, cultural and sonic dimensions of African futurity.

The event, Stadtklang x FutureTrends : Sounds of Urgent Utopia, took place at the Africa Centre, with co-panellists Prof. Julian Henriques (Goldsmiths), Elvira Dyangani Ose (Goldsmiths), Dele Adeyemo (pidgin perfect), with Dr Louis Moreno (Goldsmiths) as chair. Stadtklang is UCL Urban Laboratory & Goldsmiths Visual Cultures’s sonic urbanism night – exploring urban sound in convivial environments.

Exploring the influence of African cities, culture and sound on the way the future is imagined today, Jenny insisted on the importance of ‘owning our narratives’ and paying attention to a new generation of creative transformers, in the field of fashion, architecture, visual and digital arts, who have been busy cultivating anew what it means to be in and from African cities.

For more information on the #FutureTrends project: https://www.africacentre.org.uk/blog/future-trends/