September 07, 2010
MobileA2K: Afrofantasy, the disenchanted teacher, knowledge from an African point of view
From 11th to 12th September lettera27 takes part in Festivaletteratura 2010 in Mantova, presenting Mobile A2K: Africa Interfaces Education Technology. The programme includes three seminars, taking place at the Seminario Vescovile. Lively discussions among international participants will focus on the potential application of interactive and open technologies, promoting active participation within education and training.

lettera27 is in its fourth year as event partner, supporting African authors and encouraging participation not only by writers, but also by technology experts, artists and designers. The Mobile A2K project gives this year’s participation both a title and a soul, stimulating reflection on urban transformation, ICT (Information Communication Technology) and education in Africa.

On Saturday 11th September, at 12.15 pm, the programme starts off with Afrofantasy: African science fiction and fantasy as an anticipation of future and technology. The seminar focuses on one of the lesser known aspects of contemporary African culture: literary visions of possible future worlds in Africa, born out of a merging of narrative and technological imagery.

During the seminar, Giuseppe O. Longo, an Italian professor whose research combines Information Theory and science fiction, shares his thoughts with Cheikh Tidiane Gaye, poet and writer, born in Senegal and currently living in Milan, Fatimah Tuggar, Nigerian artist working with digital art and photography, and Stacy Hardy (bio wiki), writer and contributor to “Chimurenga Magazine”.  

On the same day, possible worlds and visions for the future will again be at the heart of the discussions, which will explore the most useful technological tools available for teaching know-how, and in what ways technology may contribute to training and education in the future.
At 5.15 pm Chiara Somajni, a journalist from “Il Sole 24 Ore” who writes about creative and social use of digital technology, is hosting the seminar The disenchanted teacher. Rethinking education through technology developed by Roberto Casati and Chiara Somajni.

Participants include Massimo Banzi, consultant, interactive design teacher and designer of Arduino, Mark Grimes, co-founder of the online networking spaces ned.com and NedSpace and co-organizer of the Maker Faire Africa. A number of prototypes and technological tools, created to re-think teaching methods and “teacher-student” interactions, are also at the heart of the programme. These include the Pedagogical Suitcase, project carried out by the Kër Thiossane association based in Dakar, in collaboration with lettera27, presented for the first time in Italy by its designer, Jean-Noel Montagné. Other tools presented are: Oliboard, a blackboard produced by Olivetti, combining interactivity and multimedia content, Tinker Toolkit, one of the most recent evolutions of the Arduino card, and IBM Mobi3, one of the most successful projects bringing together schools and mobile phone technology companies.

On Sunday 11th September at 12.15 pm, don’t miss key seminar Multiplying perspectives: knowledge from an African point of view, with Rasheed Araeen, conceptual artist and critic, founder of the journal “Third Text”. This is a unique opportunity to meet, in Italy, one of the leading figures of post-colonial critique. An original perspective is presented on the Mediterranean origin of western culture and how Asia and Africa are often misunderstood in their contribution to the production of knowledge.

Following the discussion, the third annual Wikimedia Italia Award ceremony will announce this year’s winner, selected for the best work on an African subject (presented as text, music, visual art work, or other form). The work must have been released during 2010 under the Creative Commons license.


Image: Fatimah Tuggar, Free Kick, 2009, Computer Montage, 91x61 cm, Courtesy of BintaZarah Studios