Moogfest, happening May 18-21 in Durham, NC, has adopted a new tactic this year for releasing its lineup, sharing out snippets of information on a weekly basis. The biggest Moogfest announcement of the past week was the addition of a new theme to the "Future Thought" lineup: Black Quantum Futurism.
The theme, co-presented by Moogfest artist Moor Mother and Philadelphia-based collectives The Afrofuturist Affair and Metropolarity, "explores the intersections of futurism, creative media, DIY-aesthetics, and activism in marginalized communities through an alternative temporal lens. It uses quantum physics, futurist traditions, and Black and African diasporic cultural traditions of consciousness, time, and space to develop temporal technologies that are more beneficial to marginalized peoples’ survival in a “high-tech” world currently dominated by oppressive, fatalistic linear time constructs," according to the festival website.
The agenda of the theme's organizers? To "dive into a deeper understanding of self, representation, and consciousness through a Sci-Fi lens . . . through an array of workshops and conversations."
"Afrofuturism" has been a theme of past Moogfests, and the new theme is presented as an evolution, or perhaps a further exploration, of that term, which was both questioned and lauded at last year's event by panelists. How is "Black Quantum Futurism" different? According to Moor Mother, it's about expansion rather than differentiation."
Oh, and because it's Moogfest, there's a playlist for it.
