Workshop - Alternative Archives? Methods and Objectives. Conversations between Nigeria and South Africa

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. Taking place partly online and partly at IFAS Research in South Africa on 8-9 April, it aims to be an important milestone in a long-term research project on African archives.

Deadline for registration: 31 March 2025.

Scroll below to learn more and register!

[English version below]

Inscrivez-vous ici avant le lundi 31 mars.

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 terme 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 :

Événement ouvert au public – 📅 Mardi 8 avril | 📌 Institut Français, 62 Juta Street, Braamfontein | ⏰9h30 – 16h30 :
Présentations et discussions ouvertes.

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 lundi 31 mars.

Comité d’organisation :

• Judith Hayem (University of Lille) – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Barbara Morovich (IFRA-Nigeria) – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Noor Nieftagodien (Wits History Workshop) – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Annael Le Poullennec (IFAS-Research) – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

RSVP here before Monday, 31^st 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.

Provisional programme:

Public event – 📅 Tuesday, 8 April | 📌 French Institute, 62 Juta Street, Braamfontein | ⏰9.30am – 4.30pm:
Short presentations and collective conversation.

Closed workshop – 📅 Wednesday, 9 April | 📌 Workers’ Museum, 52 Rahima Moosa Street, Newtown | ⏰9.30am – 4.30pm:

• Guided visit of the Workers’ Museum.
• Parallel workshops to start working practically on would-be corpus of archives (artefacts, pictures, writing, films, etc.) and to discuss and reflect on conditions of their actual constitution, and access.

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 Monday, 31st of March.

Organising committee:

• Judith Hayem (University of Lille) – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Barbara Morovich (IFRA-Nigeria) – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Noor Nieftagodien (Wits History Workshop) – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Annael Le Poullennec (IFAS-Research) – This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.