The internet has the power to craft and mediate our historical narratives. It offers an unprecedented chance for experts and lay people, victors and victims, to make claims and counter-claims. Opportunities and challenges arise when harnessing digital tools (messaging applications, content sharing platforms, etc) for the memorialization of time and space.
Through the lens of culture formation and archive building this session explore how people use the internet to render and connect historical narratives while offering participants a chance to contribute their knowledge and experiences in this context.
I invite participants to explore: 1. The social and technical aspects of history and historicising. 2. The effect of inaccessible archives, paywalls, internet shutdowns etc. on archival practices. 3. The possibilities that are opened up by social media, open access, AR/ VR etc 4. Ownership and censorship concerns that arise with archival practice.
This session seeks to explore what opportunities arise when citizens (can) harness technology to engage historical and cultural narratives. I hope that it will spur those who participate to think of the ways in which historical and cultural significance is constructed in their particular settings and act as a jumping off point for further conversations and creations around this theme.
As a lover of technology, I also imagine technological tools that tackle history as an outcome or technologists re-imagining existing tools for the purpose of welcoming citizen participation in the creation of recorded and archived historical and cultural narratives.
We're hoping that many efforts and discussions will continue after Mozfest. Share any ideas you already have for how to continue the work from your session.:I’m imagining a blog or microsite that will house the photos, audio and text generated in the making of the session that will go towards making the imagined future podcast.
I would also like to create a guide to the making of the project with the intention of both documenting the process as well as providing a space in which people interested in the workings of the session and its materials can be able to replicate and/ or improve on a podcast in the future.
How will you deal with varying numbers of participants in your session?:For a small audience, this could take the form of one-on-one conversations.
For a larger audience this could take the form of a Q&A and break out groups that will allow for real-time interaction with the audience and among the audience members.
Nyambura is a multidisciplinary artist whose work includes Radio Kikuyu, 2 Girls & A Pod, Corpus, 100 on Books and writing in various outlets. Find out more at cmutanyi.com/work.