Since the pandemic began, the limited (and privileged) pathways of information and resource distribution, that so much of cultural production relies on, have been exposed. Physically out of touch with institutional spaces and fed by great social upheaval, more people have begun questioning the relevance of old institutions and the privileged knowledge they house.
Perhaps, in this moment, we have the capacity to imagine what new futures could exist. Perhaps, once imagined, we can work toward making them a reality. This is what performance artist, composer, and Digital Economies Lab participant, Suzanne Kite, is doing with An Artist’s Almanac. The project is a digital tool that can aid artists without homogenizing their needs, aspirations, or technologies of knowledge. Drawing upon Oglála Lakȟóta technologies of time and dreaming and Afrofuturist practices around gathering and rest, Kite aims to have An Artist’s Almanac decentralize the value system that currently positions all ‘other’ creation in opposition to the institutional assimilation of commodifying art. By doing so, Kite aims to provide a tool that fosters artistic agency, solidarity and prosperity. That prosperity is not solely for this lifespan but so that artists may be agents of prosperity for generations to come by contextualizing the actions they take today within the looming framework of tomorrow and tomorrow’s tomorrow.
Dive into this discussion with us and pay close attention to the abstract technologies of time keeping and dreaming Kite describes and consider imagining, with us, what future you are willing to work toward.