2023:Program/Submissions/Ndoli Jowei - Curating an open access archive of African women artists - 33NV3N
Title: Ndoli Jowei - Curating an open access archive of African women artists
Speakers:
Kgomotso Ramushu
Room:
Start time:
End time:
Type: Lecture
Track: GLAM, Heritage, and Culture
Submission state: submitted
Duration: 30 minutes
Do not record: false
Presentation language: en
Abstract & description[edit source]
Abstract[edit source]
Ndoli Jowei seeks to increase the profile of African women’s’ art by documenting the biographies and artistic collections of African women artists. Through a Wikimedia grant Ndoli Jowei began contributing to the collective archive and creative commons, documenting the journeys and curatorial praxis of African women collectors of the arts. This session reflects on the challenges and opportunities along the path to illuminate African women's art.
Description[edit source]
Ndoli Jowei is a celebration of the work of African women artists on the continent and the diaspora. African women artists are under-represented on scholarship and popular culture references to the continent’s visual culture. There is need to affirm the status and role of African women in cultural production and discourse about art. Wikipedia provides an avenue to attempt.
This session reflects on the process undertaken to address this through edit-a-thons, performances and a digital archive. Making these contributions widely available will contribute to shifting the persistently Eurocentric historiography of Africa's visual arts. I will reflect on the experiences working with academics, students, and others to created a shared understanding the genealogy and depth of African women’s artistry and symbolic expression.
Currently, a lot of information on African women artists can be found behind the paywalls of journals and curated collections housed by museums. Wikipedia reflects the status of galleries, museums and art syllabuses world over. Few South African women artist biographies tagged and listed on Wikipedia are Black women. There is a larger volume of pages devoted to African – American artists and white South African women artists than there is of African women. Whilst these are valuable contributions, they are not representative of the demography of the continent. This misrepresentation is not just demographic but cultural and it has broader implications. There are gaps in the geographic and temporal representation of African women artists. They do not adequately capture the styles, influences and legacies of work by African women artists. Whilst efforts have been made by contemporary 21st century artists, there is need to address the paucity of information on the works, collections, exhibitions, and praxis of African women artists in the 20th and even 19th century where information is accessible. There are communal artistic practices as well as works which can be attributed to individuals. The categories and lenses through which we study African women’s artistry require greater attention. The Wiki verse holds many possibilities for us to better curate, archive and disseminate knowledge about African women's art. This lecture will share these prospects and the work done thus far using Wikipedia.
Further details[edit source]
Qn. How does your session relate to the event themes: Diversity, Collaboration Future?
This session speaks directly to the theme of Diversity. African women artists are under-represented on scholarship and popular culture references to the continent’s visual culture. There is need to affirm the status and role of African women in cultural production and discourse about art.
My lecture will demonstrate that through the development and improvement of Wikipedia biographies, the volume and quality of African women artists’ pages can be improved. A triangulated approach was deployed to improve or create pages, including searching academic databases, interviewing key respondents, visiting community libraries / galleries and workshopping the biographies. This session also emphasizes collaboration. The knowledge (both ideas and systems) of marginalized social groups needs to be affirmed by the community it seeks to represent. This speaks to Paulo Freire's idea that the 'Oppressed should be their own example in the quest for freedom.' Community archives, local libraries and books written in African languages proved to be great sources during the Ndoli Jowei project. This session will share how community centres like Funda Community College and Botaki ba Afrika opened their doors and archives to share catalogues, books and more great resources to enrich Wikipedia pages.
Qn. What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?
Everyone can participate in this session
Qn. What is the most appropriate format for this session?
Onsite in Singapore
Remote online participation, livestreamed- Remote from a satellite event
- Hybrid with some participants in Singapore and others dialing in remotely
- Pre-recorded and available on demand
