This workshop will explore the intersection of Afrofuturism, technology, sound, Blackness and resistance, using as a launch point the ideas and narratives behind DeForrest Brown Jr. 's latest output "Techxodus", and his recent book "Assembling A Black Counter Culture".

DeForrest describes Techxodus as "abstracting Blackness through information overload"; the album can be read as an epilogue to his book, or as a extension of the Drexciya Mythos; researching and reimagining the artifacts and stories of Drexciya with new maps, ideas and music. Meanwhile, "Assembling A Black Counter Culture" contextualises and reframes techno as a unique form of Black musical and cultural production, illuminating the pathways from the transatlantic slave trade to Emancipation, the Industrial Revolution, and the Great Migration from the rural South to the industrialized North. By tracing these industrialised Black histories, DeForrest builds a deep and detailed context for the groundbreaking techno of 1980s Detroit, the immersive tech of Underground Resistance, the mythscience of Drexciya and the ongoing, expanding story of Afrofuturism in techno.

Over five videocall sessions, DeForrest will lay out the ideas and research behind his recent work, with extensive listening and reading materials provided to add context and depth. Your own responses to the ideas will be developed through creative prompts and one-to-one sessions.

DeForrest Brown, Jr. is an Alabama-raised, Ex-American, rhythmanalyst, writer and curator. He makes audio and other media work under his own name, and as Speaker Music, and is a key representative of the Make Techno Black Again campaign. DeForrest's written work explores the links between the Black experience in industrialized labor systems and Black innovation in electronic music, and has appeared in Artforum, Triple Canopy, NPR, CTM Festival, Mixmag, Afropunk and many others. He has lectured at Spotify for Artists, Brown University, Yale University, and has performed or presented work at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), Camden Arts Centre (London), Unsound Festival (Krakow), Sónar (Barcelona), Issue Project Room (New York) and elsewhere. He was also the inaugural Suzanne Fiol Curatorial Fellow at Issue Project Room, and a resident at the Rauschenberg Residency. On Juneteenth of 2020, he released the album Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry on Planet Mu.



WHERE AND WHEN?

This is an online course, but it involves realtime sessions and contact time with your tutor - it's not a "download these videos and watch them at your leisure" type of thing - it's a real workshop with live lectures, individual tuition, assignments and feedback sessions. We've tried to make this remote session as close as possible to the experience of an onsite workshop at CAMP. The course starts on 18/12/2023 and ends on 22/12/2023. The schedule for sessions is as follows (all times are CET):

• Session 1: 18/12/2023, 18:00 - 21:00 CET
• Session 2: 19/12/2023, 18:00 - 21:00 CET
• Session 3: 20/12/2023, 18:00 - 21:00 CET
• Session 4: 21/12/2023, 18:00 - 21:00 CET
• Session 5: 22/12/2023, 18:00 - 21:00 CET

HOW TO BOOK

To book your place on the course, click the button in the green section above. You won't pay anything right now - we'll send you a booking confirmation email with everything you need to know next. Your place is reserved without payment for three days.

You'll find a payment link in the booking confirmation email - follow the link to make a payment (either in full, or the first payment of a 2 month payment plan). In the latter case, a monthly payment plan will be put in place, so your card will be charged 1/2 of the fee today, and 1/2 each month (on the same day) for an additional 1 months. All card payments are handled by Stripe, and are extremely secure. We don't store any card data ourselves - all of this is handled securely off-site by Stripe. If you have a discount or grant code, you will be able to add it when you follow the payment link in your confirmation email.

Once you've made a payment, you'll receive another email containing your receipt, links to resources, contact information and access to our group chat to discuss the workshop with other participants.