Archiving the Future: Methodologies and Epistemologies of Recovery in relation to Black Italian History

This lecture by artist, educator and cultural facilitator Justin Randolph Thompson unpacks the methodologies, templates and practical applications of the archival research of The Recovery Plan, a Black cultural center in Florence Italy dedicated to the histories and cultures of people of African descent within the Italian context. Co-founded by Thompson, this cultural incubator and its nine research platforms are the basis for radical forms of knowledge sharing and community building where Sankfofian understandings of futurity are embedded within the dismantling of academically policed borders and anti colonial positioning. Through this lecture the Italian canonization of cultural values in relation to notions of linearity and antiquity are problematized through an unveiling of the façade of access within the cultural sphere. The limitations of presence in relation to historical and contemporary representation is examined through forms of self narration and oral histories. The lecture shares the development of tool kits across fields of study that combat institutionalized mechanisms of defense that effectively limit what is recognized as knowledge production.

Justin Randolph Thompson is an artist, cultural facilitator and educator born in Peekskill, NY in ’79. Based between Italy and the US since 1999. Thompson is a recipient of a 2022 Creative Capital Award, a 2020 Italian Council Research Fellowship, a Louis Comfort Tiffany Award, a Franklin Furnace Fund Award, a Visual Artist Grant from the Fundacion Marcelino Botin and an Emerging Artist Fellowship from Socrates Sculpture Park amongst others. His work and performances have been exhibited widely in institutions including The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia and The American Academy in Rome and are part of numerous collections including The Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Museo MADRE. His life and work seek to deepen the discussions around socio-cultural stratification and the arrogance of permanence by employing fleeting temporary communities as monuments and fostering projects that connect academic discourse, social activism and DIY networking strategies in annual and biennial gathering, sharing and gestures of collectivity. Thompson is Co-Founder and Director of Black History Month Florence, a multi-faceted exploration of Black histories and cultures in the context of Italy founded in 2016. Having realized, coordinated, curated, facilitated and promoted over 400 events and with 9 ongoing research platforms, the initiative has been reframed as a research center called The Recovery Plan which is directed by Thompson.

To attend this lecture in person, please complete the online registration.

This lecture will be livestreamed on the Department's YouTube channel.

All times stated in Eastern time.