SUSTAINING
THE
OTHERWISE

Restitution, Reparation and Transformat

Jelili Atiku participating in the procession “Kongo Déy” as part of a collaboration with Robert Young for “Carnival as a Conjuring of History and Memory” at Alice Yard, Port of Spain, 2025.

Sustaining the Otherwise is a collaborative research and artistic project about restitution, reparation and transformation, taking place in multiple locations over several years. Sustaining the Otherwise takes an active approach to engaging with the topic of restitution by attempting to dismantle the hierarchical institutional status quo, and focusing on artistic practices that activate decoloniality in different sites and multiple temporalities.

The project offers a space for artists, activists, scholars and writers to be in dialogue and to explore the topic of restitution in relation to both material and immaterial culture. Focusing on artistic practices, the program includes gatherings, publications, performances, exhibitions and residencies. As the title suggests, this is a call to imagine the otherwise, to imagine alternatives to the long history of capture and containment by supporting and sustaining artistic, design, research and spatial practices that undo colonial amnesia by refusing or replacing it with alternatives.

Sustaining the Otherwise is organized in several stages, and takes the shape of a multi-locational program developed in collaboration with the following institutions, initiatives and spaces: The Research Center for Material Culture and Metro 54 (Amsterdam), Nordic Black Theatre and The Global Art Project (Oslo), Afrikadaa and the African Art Book Fair (Paris and Dakar), CCA Lagos and G.A.S. Foundation (Lagos), Lusaka Contemporary Art Center (Lusaka), Kamene Cultural Center and Research Space and NCAI (Nairobi), Afropocene StudioLab and Capsule (Kampala), Alice Yard (Port of Spain) and Archive Books (Dakar).

With generous support from Nordic Culture Fund, Creative Industries Fund NL, Fritt Ord, Arts and Culture Norway, and OCA.

CONTACT

If you would like to get in touch or receive more information about 'Sustaining the Otherwise,' please write to info@sustainingtheotherwise.com

If you would like to get in touch or receive more information about 'Sustaining the Otherwise,'
please write to info@sustainingtheotherwise.com