Workshop “Alternative Archives? Methods and Objectives. Conversations between Nigeria and South Africa” – 8-9 April 2025

Tuesday, 8 April 2025 | 9:30am – 4:30pm | French Institute, 62 Juta Street, Braamfontein – Public event

Wednesday, 9 April 2025 | 9:30am – 4:30pm | Workers’ Museum, 52 Rahima Moosa Street, Newtown – Closed workshop

[Version française ci-dessous]


RSVP here before Wednesday, 2nd of April.


IFAS-Research, IFRA-Nigeria, the Wits History Workshop (University of the Witwatersrand), the University of Lille and the Workers’ Museum are pleased to invite you to a workshop intending to engage in discussions with different voices, academic and non-academic, sharing ideas about archives, whether digital or non-digital, and especially “alternative archives” constitution, i.e non-institutional/state/colonial ones but rather emerging archives/forgotten/”dominated” archives, etc…

Starting from research already underway in South Africa and Nigeria, the general aim is for the workshop to be an important milestone in a long-term research project on African archives, envisaged in a critical decolonial view. In this sense, the archiving and digitizing of “traces”, those from the past as well as those from the present, (images, sounds, writings, objects, collected data…) can be instruments of epistemic justice. The aim is to bring together a group of researchers and open up to other voices: members of society, activists, artists and also representatives of heritage institutions, in order to discuss dominations and converse about the possible futures of alternative/minority memories and their possible places of conservation. 

Finally, we hope to be able to display the workshop’s productions in a small work-in-progress exhibition.

The discussions will revolve around the following initial questions:

  • Who is archiving what? Why do we want to archive? And for whom? 
  • When is an archive considered to exist? (for example, is there such a thing as #Feesmustfall archives?)
  • When does an artefact or record start to be an archive? In other words, how “old” should an element of a would-be archive be to be considered as such? (Archiving the past, archiving the present?)
  • What forms, including creative ones, do we (wish to) give to archives?
  • How does the notion of decolonization/decoloniality/decolonial fit in in the process?
  • Is digitalization the solution or the problem? Who owns the platforms and websites?
  • In that respect or others, how do we deal with the issue of sustainability in archiving?


Programme:

Day 1 – Public event – 📅 Tuesday, 8 April | 📌 French Institute, 62 Juta Street, Braamfontein | ⏰9.30am – 4.30pm

9.00 – 9.30am – Welcome Coffee

9.30am – 12.30pm – Short presentations and collective conversation with the participation of:

  • Linda Chernis, GALA project, Queer Archives
  • Rehad Desai, Uhuru production
  • Ayanda Dudla, Exotically Divine
  • Judith Hayem, University of Lille
  • Mike Kahn, Non-Racial Sport History Project
  • Ali Khangela Hlongwane, Soweto History and Archives Project (SHAP!)
  • Sa’eed Husaini, Center for Democracy and Development (Nigeria)
  • Fu’ad Lawal, archivi.ng (Nigeria)
  • Ariana Lissonni, History Workshop, Wits University ; South African History Archive (SAHA)
  • Tshepo Moloi, Historical Studies, University of Johannesburg
  • Barbara Morovich, Director of IFRA-Ibadan (Nigeria)
  • Livhuwani Mulaudzi, Alexandra Museum
  • Noor Nieftagodien, History Workshop, Wits University
  • Femi Olanrewaju, Researcher, IFRA Nigeria
  • Thsilidzi Lesego, Ex curator of Delville Wood Museum (France)

12.30 – 1.30pm – Lunch

1.30 – 4.30 pm – Continuation of the morning’s discussions and open debat.

Day 2 – Closed workshop – 📅 Wednesday, 9 April | 📌 Workers’ Museum, 52 Rahima Moosa Street, Newtown (Secured parking on Miriam Makeba Street) | ⏰9.30am – 4.30pm

9.00 – 9.30am – Welcome Coffee

9.30am – 12.30pm – Workshop : Based on the questions discussed and the issues raised in day one, as well as the material brought, the participants will be split into two sessions focused on working together on the archives and their circulation.

12.30 – 1.30pm – Lunch & Guided tour of the Workers’ Museum.

1.30 – 4.30pm – Workshop continuation and final conclusions.

Only 10 slots are open to the public for the closed workshop. If you are interested in participating in the workshop, please provide a brief explanation of why you would like to participate in the dedicated section of the RSVP form, before Wednesday, 2nd of April.


Organising commitee:

 


Inscrivez-vous ici avant le mercredi 2 avril.

L’IFAS-Recherche, l’IFRA-Nigéria, le Wits History Workshop (Université du Witwatersrand), l’Université de Lille et le Workers’ Museum ont le plaisir de vous inviter à l’atelier de recherche “Alternative Archives? Methods and Objectives. Conversations between Nigeria and South Africa“. L’événement souhaite engager un dialogue entre universitaires et non-universitaires autour de la constitution d’archives, numériques ou non, “alternatives” – qui ne sont issues ni des institutions, ni des gouvernements, ni des administrations coloniales, etc.

À partir des travaux en cours en Afrique du Sud et au Nigéria, l’objectif de l’atelier est de faire un état des lieux des recherches conduites sur le long termes et qui abordent les archives africaines sous un angle critique et décolonial. Dans cette perspective, l’archivage et la numérisation de “traces” du passé et du présent (images, sons, écrits, objets, données collectées, etc.) peuvent servir à une justice épistémique. Le but est de rassembler des chercheur·ses ainsi que des membres de la société civile, des activistes, des artistes, des représentant·es d’institutions patrimoniales, afin de discuter des dominations en jeu et d’envisager de nouvelles façon de collecter et de préserver les mémoires alternatives ou minoritaires. 


Programme provisoire :

Jour 1 – Événement ouvert au public – 📅 Mardi 8 avril | 📌 Institut Français, 62 Juta Street, Braamfontein | ⏰9h30 – 16h30 :

Présentations et discussions ouvertes.

Jour 2 – Événement restreint – 📅 Mercredi 9 avril | 📌 Workers’ Museum, 52 Rahima Moosa Street, Newtown | ⏰9h30 – 16h30 :

  • Visite guidée du Workers’ Museum
  • Ateliers de travail autour de potentiels corpus d’archives (artefacts, photographies, écrits, films, etc.) afin de réfléchir aux conditions pratiques de leur constitution et de leur accès.

Seules 10 places sont ouvertes au public pour l’atelier du second jour. Si vous êtes intéressé·es, merci de nous fournir un court argumentaire sur vos motivations dans la section dédiée du formulaire d’inscription, avant le mercredi 2 avril.


Comité d’organisation :