A lecture fit for the dreamers, time travellers, thinkers and those from other realities and realms… FLP welcome back the incredible Janine Francois!
CLASS DESCRIPTION
This lecture takes roots/routes from Black Futurism via the lens of Black Gendered Space Time to explore the artistic and cultural works of Janelle Monae and Missy Elliot. We will orbit around the writings of the Jamaican cultural theorists Sylvia Wynter and the Philadelphian collective ‘Black Quantum Futurism’ by understanding how Monae and Elliot’s (and others) works critiques the patriarchal and racist conception of ‘the human’ and western ‘mechanical-clock-time.’ We will travel through the works of Monae, Elliot and an array of other artists (like Juliana Huxtable) who all reconfigure Black gendered bodies by embodying non-human identities such as androids, cyborgs, aliens and ethereal beings that explores speculative fiction, space and time travel to re-imagine more equitable societies.
This lecture is perfect for the dreamers, time travellers, thinkers and those from other realities and realms.
Image Credits Used Throughout
Juliana Huxtable (1) : Untitled (Psychosocial Stuntin’)
Juliana Huxtable (2) : Untitled in the Rage (Nibiru Cataclysm) (right), 2015.
Black Quantum Futurism, 2021, photo: Chris Stitch
Rebekah Ubuntu courtesy of Angela Dennis Photography
Missy Elliot (1)- still from music video 'She's a Bitch'
Missy Elliot (2) - still from music video 'Supa Dupa Fly'
Missy Elliot (3) - still from music video 'Sock it to Me'
Janelle Monae (1) 'Metropolis' album sleeve
Janelle Monae (2) 'Arch Android' e-motion
Janelle Monae (3) 'The Electric Lady' album sleeve
Janelle Monae (4) 'Dirty Computer' e-motion imagery
Pumzi (2009) dir. Wanuri Kahiu (stills from film)
Lieutenant Uhura, Star Trek
Sylvia Wynter, Image courtesy of Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library.
ABOUT OUR LECTURER
Janine Francois is Black Feminist-Killjoy, Writer, Academic in Exile, Time Traveller, Cultural Producer and a Consultant. Janine was formerly the Course Leader for the undergraduate course, BA Culture, Criticism and Curation at Central Saint Martins and has set up the University of the Arts London first-ever Hip-Hop Cultures module, as well as establishing the Royal College of Art’s first-ever Hip-Hop Studies reading group as a Visiting Lecturer. They completed their Ph.D at University of Bedfordshire/ Tate, exploring if Tate can be a safer space to discuss issues of race and cultural differences within a teaching and learning context.
Janine’s practices explores racial equity, intersectionality, decolonisation, climate and social justice within cultural and academic institutions by way of writing, producing, research, teaching and consultancy.
Instagram: @itsjaninebtw
Website: itsjaninebtw.com
UPCOMING SESSIONS WITH THE FEMINIST LECTURE PROGRAM
Monday 16th September
Kitty Underhill (she/her)
Where do Flaws Come From?: Bellies, Bodies and the Social Construction of Imperfection
Monday 23rd September
N.A. Kimber (she/her) and K.E. Donoghue-Stanford (she/her)
Death and the Maiden: Femininity in the Gothic
Monday 30th September
Carolina Hades (she/her)
Pole Dancing Against the Algorithm
Monday 7th October
Janine Francois (she/they)
Black {Gendered} Space Time: From the Heavens to Outer Space
Monday 14th October
Parumveer Walia (he/him)
Staged Bodies: Performativity in Feminist Photography
Monday 21st October
Isobel Atacus (she/they)
Eva Hesse: Imagining the Unruly
Monday 28th October
Gudrun Filipska (she/her)
Feminism and Zombie Culture
Monday 4th November
Anna Titov (she/her)
Cyborgs, Transcorporeality and Volatile Bodies: Ecofeminist Theories of Embodiment
Monday 11th November
COMING SOON
Monday 18th November
Melissa Baksh (she/her)
Whitewashed? Whiteness and Femininity in Art History
Monday 25th November
Dr. Noam Yadin Evron (she/her)
Hildegard of Bingen: Mystic, Artist, Composer, Pioneer
Monday 2nd December
COMING SOON
Monday 9th December
Baylee Woodley (they/them)
Medieval Femmes: Queer Femininities in Medieval England
Monday 16th December
Summer Lee (she/her)
The Incendiary History of Red Lingerie
RECORDING
A recording of the lecture will be sent out by The Feminist Lecture Program after the event finishes, within 2 hours of the end of the class. This email will also contain any resources/reading list the lecturer shares.
Please add hello@feministlectureprogram.com to your email contacts to ensure you receive the recording as expected.
Please note that the recording will expire 7 days after sending.
PAY WHAT YOU CAN
Everyone is welcome to join this Pay-What-You-Can class. We suggest a donation of £20, however, we understand that may not be possible for everybody. Please be honest and pay what you can afford so that we can continue to offer our sessions on a donation basis.
MORE FLP…
Can’t get enough? The Feminist Lecture Program has our very own digital archive, where you can find some of the best past lectures from our back catalogue to rent and watch ON DEMAND. Check out our ever growing collection here: https://thefeministlectureprogram.vhx.tv/
Follow us on Instagram @thefeministlectureprogram
And check out our sustainable merch from FLP Studio at https://feministlectureprogram.com/shop & @flp__studio
And that's it!
We're really looking forward to you joining us x