In 2017, NYU ITP graduate student Ari Melenciano wanted to create a space where socially-minded innovators could convene. A space to explore the possibilities when building at the intersections of art, design, technology, Black culture and activism for healthy Black futures. With the help of classmates and faculty, the first festival quickly sold out and was held in March 2018.
By 2020, we developed an alternative adult school with pedagogy at the intersections of art, design, technology, Black culture, and activism. We also launched our inaugural international fellowship with 10 fellows.
By our second festival in 2019, we had also piloted a 7-12th grade summer camp, created a $5,000 university scholarship, and invested over $15,000 in the Black community.
Years
of...
Building at the intersections of art, design, technology, Black culture, and activism
Afrotectopia is a social institution creating at the intersections of art, design, technology, Black culture, and activism. We cultivate spaces for Black radical imagination through annual festivals, think tanks, international fellowships, alternative schools, and more. Our work is rooted in collaborative research practices and outputs for Black agency and empowerment.
WebVR
Audio-Visual Production
Healing Modalities
International
Speculative Design
Collaborative Research
Community Building
New Media Art + Design
Technology
Race + Activism
Interdisciplinary Innovation
Community Building
Radical Imagination
Afrocentric Pedagogy
Physical Computing
Creative Computation
Year:
2020
Field:
WebVR
Audio-Visual Production
Healing Modalities
By:
Afrotectopia
Metamorphosis is an audiovisual healing virtual environment that uses sound frequencies and light waves directly tied to energy centers, as well as African drum patterns and instrumentation of diasporic revolutions to nurture the people of the diaspora.
Year:
2020
Field:
WebVR
Audio-Visual Production
Healing Modalities
By:
Afrotectopia
Metamorphosis is an audiovisual healing virtual environment that uses sound frequencies and light waves directly tied to energy centers, as well as African drum patterns and instrumentation of diasporic revolutions to nurture the people of the diaspora.
Year:
2020
Field:
Speculative Design
Collaborative Research
Community Building
With:
Yaa Addae, Léa Alapini, Beau Bonnet, Madebo Fatunde, Niki Franco, Isaiah Murray, Jonathan Obote Odur, Nneka Sobers, Morgan Vickers, Josie Williams
What happens when you bring together 10 innovators from around the world to collaboratively imagine, speculate, and design vibrant and healthy Black futures? We, Afrotectopia, really wanted to find out and so we created the inaugural Afrotectopia Imagineer Fellowship.
The fellowship was designed to bring together an international, interdisciplinary, and intersectional cohort of Black innovators. We initially presented (5) fellowships for 1.5 months of work, with a $1,000 stipend each. Due to the immense amount of talent and brilliance exhibited through the interviews, we expanded the amount of fellowships to (10)!
Fellows were selected from every region of the U.S. (Northeast — Connecticut and New York; Midwest — Ohio; South — Florida and Texas; West — California) and around the world (Ghana, France, and the U.K.).Since fruition, Afrotectopia’s main areas of focus have been art, design, technology, Black culture, and activism. And we’ve been keen on creating Afrotectopian environments that are welcoming of diverse and widely-ranged professions and practices. We are invested in omni-specialized demographics because when you are designing futures, we recognize that it must be done through a comprehensive and cohesive practice with understandings in every facet of life. We sought a similarly vast array of professions, skills, mediums, and practices amongst the fellows.
Read the Fellows' essays
HEREYear:
2020
Field:
New Media Art + Design
Technology
Race + Activism
Hosted by:
Verizon Media
"Afrotectopia, as a social institution, bridges the gulf between imagination and creation. Through developing workshops that are designed to find creative ways to map the Black experience onto new forms of media, the school suggests a possible future where the human condition is conveyed in ways that everyone can engage with" - Evan Nicole Brown of Adobe/AIGA
In January 2020, Afrotectopia launched the inaugural The School of Afrotectopia. The program offered 10 free different courses at various intersections of art, design, technology, Black culture, and activism. Over 250 students participated. The School was hosted by Verizon Media in NYC.
Year:
2019
Field:
Interdisciplinary Innovation
Community Building
Radical Imagination
Hosted by:
Google NYC
In August 2019, Afrotectopia held their second annual festival at Google NYC. Presenter's included Kamal Sinclair, Stephanie Dinkins, Adaora Udoji, Rafael Sergio Smith, Mutale Nkonde, Errol King, Victor Dibia, Saloma Asega, Kenyatta Cheese, Sandra Ekong, Tao Leigh Goffe, Taj Reid, Christopher Lee, Vanessa Newman, Khalid Livingston, Chromat, Neta Bomani, Ashley Jane Lewis, Sharon de la Cruz, and plenty more!
Year:
2019
Field:
Afrocentric Pedagogy
P
Creative Computation
Hosted by:
Marymount School of NY
In the Summer of 2019, Afrotectopia launched a free 7-12th grade summer camp to introduce Black youth to an Afrotectopia approach to STEAM. In the camp, students explored sound interactive coding, creating physical sound sculptures, data art and visualizations, stop-frame animation, 3D rendering animation, and speculative design.
Year:
2019
Field:
Afrocentric Pedagogy
P
Creative Computation
Hosted by:
Marymount School of NY
In the Summer of 2019, Afrotectopia launched a free 7-12th grade summer camp to introduce Black youth to an Afrotectopia approach to STEAM. In the camp, students explored sound interactive coding, creating physical sound sculptures, data art and visualizations, stop-frame animation, 3D rendering animation, and speculative design.