Enter Afrofuturism

As a term, Afrofuturism appeared in the 1990s to describe an Afro-American artistic trend which had found expression in sci-fi, fantasy literature, music, the visual arts, comics and movies. Today, it is an inexhaustible field of academic, political, artistic and scientific investigation and production which incorporates elements from the black cultures from the diaspora of West Africa, North America, Britain and the Caribbean, creating a Black Atlantic map.

The history and roots of the Afro-American community were systematically eradicated from the white, slave-trading consciousness. What started as the kidnapping of people from Africa between the 15th and 19th centuries developed into the post-colonial mindset of the contemporary world. The community's need to construct myths of origin, to recover their stolen past and reshape their futures found expression in sci-fi, music and technology.

Afrofuturism bridges past and future to liberate the present through musical, visual, narrative and political terms that transcend all and every historical limitation of race and gender. It constructs myths, conjecture and fantasy by linking the black experience to the techno-culture of the 20th and 21st centuries. It draws its ideas from the African cultural and philosophical tradition, the art produced by the African diaspora, and criticism of modernism and the post-colonial condition, and seeks to rewrite the Western narrative on colonialism, technology, race and time.

"Enter Afrofuturism" is a 6-day festival that maps Afrofuturism as a cultural and political movement through concerts, talks, workshops and film screenings.

The concerts will be held on the Onassis Stegi Main Stage and at Six d.o.g.s. and will feature the following artists: Sun Ra Arkestra, Actress, Dopplereffekt, Moor Mother, A Guy Called Gerald, Voltnoi, ATH Kids, Nkisi, Black Quantum Futurism, Black Athena.
The guest speakers at the lectures and open discussions will include: otolith group, Reynaldo Anderson, Louis Chude-Sokei, Rasheedah Phillips, Nkisi, Abdul Qadim Haqq, Tabita Rezaire, Erik Steinskog, Nathalie Mba Bikoro et al.

Moreover, in association with the Goethe Institut Athens and Johannesburg, short films and documentaries will be screened which explore Afrofuturism through the history of black music. Jazz, Detroit techno and the contemporary music produced in Africa's metropolises are some of the featured subjects in a collaboration that will also include the screening of virtual reality films.