In the House of My Father 1996–7, © The estate of Donald Rodney
Hip Hop Pedagogy and Power: Re-Imagining the Archive – #ReimagineArchives – a collaborative residency with Counterpoints Arts, The Open University, Plymouth College of Art, Tate Exchange and Tate Archive (as part of the Who Are We? Tate Exchange programme)
How might a Hip Hop ‘practitioner-cum-archivist’ re-imagine the Tate Archive? Can Hip Hop as a genre-defying art form, re-translate/re-connect archival histories, stories and objects to wider audiences?
Focusing on decolonizing/re-imagining, the point of departure for Hip Hop Pedagogy and Power is the Tate Archive with its many miscellaneous objects. Resident artists – Shay D, AWATE and Big Zuu – are invited to speak back to the archive; to insert new perspectives and retrieve silenced voices and cultural viewpoints.
Running from April to September 2020, the residency comprises working in the archive in addition to a mentoring programme and collaboration with dramaturge, Hassan Mahamdallie.
The project team brings a unique mix of skills and activities together, including digital anthropologist Kat Braybrooke and colleagues from Studio ‘We and Us’ and the creative agency, Superimpose.
In addition to participation in a series of intergenerational conversations about power, displacement and social justice, the residency will conclude with a set of performances of new and existing tracks at Tate Exchange and elsewhere.
The creative, learning and investigative process underpinning the residency and the final performances will form the backbone of a new creative arts curriculum focusing on ‘Youth Activism, Hip Hop, Power and Pedagogy’.
Please note: elements of and the timeline for this project have been adapted to the digital sphere, allowing the project to continue despite the ‘physical distancing’ imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
