Afrofuturism and the archive: Robots of Brixton and crumbs

Bould, Mark

Abstract

© Liverpool University Press. This article is concerned with questions of history, memory and meaning, and with the construction of Afrofuturism as both an archive and a living tradition. It will begin by outlining the origins of the term, and consider how its naming and initial explication in a popular article by Mark Sinker, interviews by Mark Dery and a film by John Akomfrah functioned as preliminary archivings, which in turn became parts of the archive they inaugurated. It will then turn to two recent Afrofuturist films which deal with history, temporality, semiosis and transformation in intriguing ways: Kibwe Tavares's six-minute short, Robots of Brixton (UK 2011), and Miguel Llansó's short feature, Crumbs (Ethiopia/Spain/Finland 2015).

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 19, 2016
• Publication Date: Jun 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Nov 18, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 6, 2016
• Journal: Science Fiction Film and Television
• Print ISSN: 1754-3770
• Electronic ISSN: 1754-3789
• Publisher: Liverpool University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 171-193
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3828/sfftv.2019.11
• Keywords: afrofuturism, archive, Miguel Llanso, Kibwe Tavares, John Akomfrah, Mark Sinker, Mark Dery, Kapwani Kiwanga
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/851843
• Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Science Fiction Film & Television following peer review. The version of record: Mark Bould (2019) Afrofuturism and the archive. Science Fiction Film & Television, Vol. 12, Issue 2, pp. 171-193 is available online at: https://online.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/abs/10.3828/sfftv.2019.11
• Contract Date: Nov 18, 2016