D. Denenge Duyst-Akpem: AFRIFUTURI 02022020

AFRIFUTURI 02022020 is a monograph and artist’s book that features eight performance-costumes from past exhibitions and eight writings—academic papers, performance scripts, poetic essays, and even a recipe for fried flying ants—from D. Denenge Duyst-Akpem's years exploring the Afrofuture. It includes custom holographic elements, created in collaboration with C Alex Clark, and is packaged in a white box that features a holographic Osanyin leaf on the front.

The monograph was launched February 2, 2020 as a companion to The Camo Coat Collection, a series of eight ensembles conceived over the two years as a timely, site-specific, textile- and garment-based engagement with environmental, political, and social concerns. The date 02.02.2020 is a mystical numerological portal connected to Denenge's ongoing creative and spiritual relationship with the number “8.” The book and collection represent 16 years of her engagement, studio practice, performance, and teaching around themes of Afro-Futurism, Afrofuturity, African art, design, and survival in the urban landscape.

D. Denenge Duyst-Akpem is a space sculptor whose award-winning teaching, art, and writing bridge disciplines of ritual, design, ecology, and Afro-Futurism. Her fantastical interactive environments and performances interrogate, titillate, decolonize, and empower, asking: "Who controls the future?" She is Associate Professor, Adjunct, at School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Founder of Denenge Design and In The Luscious Garden, initiatives focused on holistic and conceptual approaches to human-centered design. Her work has been featured in publications, collections, and exhibitions worldwide, including ICA London for Black Quantum Futurism: Temporal Deprogramming; Kunsthaus Zürich; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Harlem, NY; National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow for the Institute on Black Aesthetics and Sacred Systems; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Her work is included in the collections of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, ARTEXTE Montreal, and Joan Flasch Artists' Book Collection, among others.

The book is also available in a limited edition, housed in a custom wooden box that includes the book, clay kola nut, holographic images, and more. Email info@kaviguptaeditions.com for more information.