This four-day program was developed by Amal Alhaag and Selene Wendt in collaboration with Pascale Obolo, Afrikadaa, and the African Art Book Fair and aimed to explore how artists, designers, thinkers, activists, and communities in Africa and its diasporas address the concept of epistemic restitution and the return of knowledge. The Unruly Knowledge sessions are conceived as a pluriversal call and response to the African Art Book Fair program.

Through this program we sought to centralize innovative forms of knowledge restitution by highlighting existing practices, toolkits, strategies, and networks that are necessary to either reinforce current community power structures or to challenge deeper structures of exploitation and domination. It's a collective effort to understand how to (un)do or shift these dynamics, and to foster a nuanced dialogue that highlights the complexities of the interplay between knowledge, power, and societal structures.

The Unruly Knowledge sessions were organized around three interrelated themes: Rehearsing for Restitution of Knowledge, Memory Work is Embodied Knowledge and Unruly Designs: Decentering the Object. The conversations were complimented by a participatory spatial experience: An Unruly Walk with Histories, as well as a collaborative sonic lecture/performance with Robert Machiri and Ibaaku, and daily Unruly Knowledge radio sessions broadcast live via Lumbung Radio from the African Art Book Fair.

Participants included Laeila Adjovi, Amal Alhaag, Barby Asante, Atelier Ndokette,
Anguezomo Mba Bikoro, Ibaaku, KENU LAB, Robert Machiri,Tracian Meikle, Lennon Mhishi, Victor Mutelekesha, Pascale Obolo, Bodil Ouédraogo, and Selene Wendt.

Institution and dates: The African Art Book Fair, May 16-19
Address: Place du Souvenir Africain, Corniche Ouest, Aimé Césaire, Dakar, Senegal