Afrofuturism: The World of Black Sci-Fi and Fantasy Culture (10 page)

An artist in a family of scientists, Richardson began her career as a flutist, playing for Sheila E. and Parliament/Funkadelic, among others, and was soon asked to lend her artistic skills to create album covers for Nona Hendryx. Richardson is a fan of speculative fiction on ancient societies and is developing a new comic on the Egyptian mystery schools and technology. However, Egyptian imagery in Afrofuturism is so popular it's almost cliche, and she wants to add a new spin. “I want to combine futuristic imagery with shamanism,” she says.

Others look to the culture's realities as a backdrop for fantasy. Fantasy writer N. K. Jemisin's book
The Killing Moon
delves into the lives of high priests inspired by Egyptian society. In the book, the priests of the dream goddess harvest dreams and guide dreamers into the afterlife.

Egyptian astronomy spread throughout Africa due in part to the Egyptians' expansive trade routes, which crossed into the Horn of Africa and south of the Sahara. Manuscripts from Timbuktu in West Africa reference the Egyptian reach, and astrological understanding is nearly omnipresent in art and architecture from the region.

Lore aside, it's a fact that the Great Pyramid of Giza and others have a host of sky-bound connections. Pyramids were arranged to align with the movement of constellations, solstice sunrises,
and cardinal points on the compass. The star Sirius was associated with the annual flooding of the Nile River. Egyptians had a very sophisticated understanding of astronomy that permeated everyday life.

Ancient Nubian culture has a symbiotic relationship with Egypt. The two often shared pharaohs, deities, and history. The two are sister cultures in many ways. Nubia may predate Egypt. Nestled in modern-day Sudan, just south of modern Egypt, Nubia was also known for its stellar architecture and rich cosmology. Unfortunately, the building of the Aswan Dam some decades ago flooded many ancient Nubian sites and ruins. Much of it is currently covered by water.

Symbolically, Egypt and Nubia predate and rival the Western world's anchor in ancient Greece and Rome.

The Dogon have perplexed Western scholars for centuries. Some believe that this Mali-born ethnic group, with an astronomical lore that goes back three millennia, harbors the ancient wisdom of the Egyptians. The stories of the Dogon opened the floodgate of alternative histories and tales inspired by probable outer-space human origins.

According to the Dogon cosmology, the Sirius system is the home to the Nommos, a race of amphibians akin to mermaids and mermen who visited Earth thousands of years ago. They arrived on Earth in an ark—inspiring Perry's Black Ark and Clinton's mothership myths—and imparted the wisdom of the stars.

French anthropologists Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dieterlen conducted and recorded conversations with Dogon priests between the 1930s and '50s because they were dumbfounded by the Dogon's common star knowledge, all assessed without a telescope. The Dogon knew that the star Sirius has two companion stars, the Digitaria (
po tolo)
and Sorghum
(emme ya tolo).
They knew that Digitaria has a fifty-year orbit cycle, and they were also familiar with the rings of Saturn and Jupiter's moon. Robert K. G. Temple's book
The Sirius Mystery
was published in 1977 and popularized these Dogon myths and knowledge.

Scientists would later challenge Griaule and Dieterlen's findings as well as Temple's extraterrestrial leanings, arguing that there's no way this culture—without conventional astronomical technology—could possibly know about star orbits and distant moons. And yet the Dogon have conducted ceremonies since, and have art depicting their knowledge from, as early as the thirteenth century.

The brightest star in the night sky, Sirius is a popular star in legend and lore, with mentions in the
Iliad, Star Trek
, and
Men in Black.
But no story rivals the creation story of the Dogon.

Artist Cauleen Smith says she is fixated with the Dogon and used their theme in her 2012 show at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. “I spent a few days in the astronomy research center reading about the star Sirius. [Scientists] will spend a whole chapter on how it's impossible for the Dogon to know about this star. They are even willing to consider that aliens from outer space told them,” she says. “Why do they have a seven-hundred-year-old ritual for a star that they cannot see?”

The Dogon astronomy is held by many Afrofuturists as proof of the advanced science minds and talents of the ancient world. “It represents an African source,” says Akpem, who teaches about the star's creative inspirations in her college-level Afrofuturism course. “It represents a cosmology that predates Western discoveries,” she continues. Afrofuturist bloggers from the
AfrofuturistAffair.com
to
FuturisticallyAncient.com
and Black
ScienceFiction.com
have posted essays and YouTube videos heralding the star. Art and stories relating to the star Sirius as well as galactic-origin metaphors are attributed to the Dogon.

Dogon lore is also one of the sources of the Mami Wata and African mermaid myths. Mami Wata are the pantheon of African water deities—half human, half sea creature. Other Mami Wata include the Togo's Densu and Yoruba's Olokun. However, the Dogon say their stories of Nommos, the mermen and mermaids of their ancestors, came from Egyptian stories. “Most were honored and respected as being ‘bringers of divine law' and for establishing the theological, moral, social, political, economic, and cultural foundation, to regulating the overflow of the Nile, and regulating the ecology i.e., establishing days for success at sailing and fishing, hunting, planting etc. to punishment by devastating floods when laws and taboos were violated,” writes Mama Zogbé, Mamaissii Vivian Hunter-Hindrew, EdM, author of
Mami Wata: Africa's Ancient God/dess Unveiled.
³

Even the words Mami and Wata have Egyptian origins.
Ma
or
mama
means “truth and wisdom,” and
Wata
comes from the ancient Egyptian word
uati
, meaning “ocean water.”

Contemporary images of Mami Wata are mostly women with long hair and snakes circling their torsos. The image was created by a nineteenth-century German artist but was inspired by the ancient imagery of the Egyptian goddess Isis. Isis was also depicted with braided hair and two serpents draped around her neck. (Isis and Mary, mother of Jesus, also are similarly depicted, as a mother holding a child.) According to myth, when she's not sea bound, she walks the streets of modern African cities and has “avatars” that do the same. She gives wealth to her followers.

The Mami Wata are also closely associated with Africans brought to the New World in the transatlantic slave trade. They inspired the Drexciya myth, of female slaves thrown overboard who now live under the sea. Mami Wata are also a favorite of graphic and installation artists, with odes on sites such as
MermaidsofColor.tumblr.com
.

Aker, blogger for Afrofuturist website
FuturisticallyAncient.com
, argues that Mami Wata permeate popular black culture. R&B star Aaliyah's slithering snake adornments in the “We Need a Resolution” video and the floating scene in the “Rock the Boat” video are archetypical references to Isis/Mami Wata. Even Tina Turner's rocking “Proud Mary (Rolling on the River)” evokes water goddess lore.

“Originally recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival, the song was famously covered by Ike and Tina Turner. The name of the band that originally recorded it as well as the lyrics suggests a religious theme. Proud Mary is a ‘riverboat queen' and its name reminds me of Virgin Mary, whose name come from Stalla Maris, ‘the star of the sea.' Virgin Mary is often syncretized with Mami Wata or Erzulie,” writes Aker.
⁴

Nona Hendryx and Labelle speckled their sci-fi rock with mermaid tops and tails and fin-like hair. CopperWire's sole woman, Meklit Hadero, has an alias of Ko Ai, a character whose mythology says she is a messenger species that swims through electrical networks and doubles as a mermaid.

Hip-hop starlet Azealia Banks adopts the cosmetic mermaid motif too, adorned with the trademark colorful long hair and shell tops. With her Mermaid Balls and aquababes, the quickwitted lyricist taps into the fantasy ideal, complete with a
Fantasea
mix tape and songs titled “Neptune” and “Atlantis.”

Although Banks doesn't credit her water-themed inventions to Mami Wata per se, she says that the basic idea was inspired by an invitation to designer Karl Lagerfeld's house and a need to impress him. “I can't just look like the rap chick,” she told
Spin
, so she dyed her hair green, blue, and purple for the appearance. “I looked like a fish,” she said. It's telling that the young ingenue's disdain for rap-borne limitations and her desire to break free of stereotypes led her to be redefined as a classic water goddess.
⁵

In June 2012 the National Museum of African Art, nestled in DC's epic Smithsonian Institution, unveiled a one-of-a-kind exhibit:
African Cosmos: Stellar Arts.
The brainchild of deputy director and chief curator Christine Mullen Kreamer,
African Cosmos
presented the legacy of continental art inspired by the cosmos, which stretches across thousands of years, threading distant cultures and times. Kreamer combined her lifelong fascination with stargazing and her work as a curator to assemble art, both
ancient and modern, that spoke to the incredible influence of sky matters on art created by Africans. Heralded for its depth and perspective, the show was a whopping aha moment for spectators and journalists alike, many of whom had never thought about Africa's science-inspired art. “This exhibition, many years in the making, is part of the museum's series focusing on Africa's contributions to the history of knowledge—in this case, knowledge about the heavens and how this knowledge informs the creation of spectacular works of art,” said Kreamer.

Works in the exhibit included an ancient Egyptian mummy board with an ornamented image of the sky goddess, Nut; the legendary Dogon sculptures; Yoruba sculptures honoring the thunder deity, Shango, and wind and lightning goddess, Oya; several Bamana antelope crest pieces, whose open-work manes imply the sun's path through the sky; as well the Tabwa and Luba sculptures.

From ancient Nubian art on papyrus to a towering contemporary
Rainbow Serpent
made of repurposed containers, Kreamer's impressive show gave definition to the too often ignored and often undefined legacy of African thoughts on the sky.

The exhibit featured contemporary artists as well, including El Anatsui, the late Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian, Willem Boshoff, Garth Erasmus, Romuald Hazoumè, Gavin Jantjes, William Kentridge, Julie Mehretu, Karel Nel, Marcus Neustetter, and Berco Wilsenach.
⁶
It was the first major exhibit of its kind.

There's a tendency to view Africa for its cultural contributions in music and art, Kreamer told me, and a reluctance to understand the continent's long-standing contributions to science and our understanding of astronomy.

The African understanding of the universe is highly personal, says Kreamer. And the one hundred works showcased in the exhibit depicted relationships between humanity, the sun, moon, stars, and celestial phenomena. More than religious symbols or decorative art, these works were complex webs of philosophy and science that gave new meaning to life.

Traditionally, African cultures don't separate science and art in the Western perspective of the divide. Dr. Malidoma Patrice Somé was boggled by the difference. “In Western reality, there is a clear split between the spiritual and the material, between religious life and secular life. This concept is alien to the Dagara,” writes Somé.
⁷
Cultural astronomy, according to Kreamer, is the study of “lay experts and nonexperts who relate in the broadest sense to the sky,” and it gives a language to the non-Western ideals of bridging science, art, and wisdom. Although cultural astronomers focus heavily on native cultures in North and South America, Africa, says Kreamer, is ripe for rigorous study.

“In contrast to the Western inclination to separate bodies of knowledge into distinctive fields, African systems are often more expansive and inclusive, bringing together philosophical, religious and scientific concepts into a more holistic approach toward comprehending reality,” Kreamer writes in her book
African Cosmos
, a companion piece to the exhibit. Kreamer, among others, argues that the failure to view African art and science from an African perspective creates a gaping hole in the global knowledge base.

When I called Kreamer to interview her for this book, she initially didn't quite understand how her show fit into a conversation about Afrofuturism. I shared that many Afrofuturists
incorporate African mythology and spirituality in their work. The
African Cosmos
exhibit is a reminder that there is a legacy of weaving art, philosophy, and the realms of the sky from a black and African perspective that predates the term Afrofuturism and any newfound curiosity. A life inspired by science fiction resides in the myths and art of the ages.

“Afrofuturism has always been a part of our culture,” award-winning filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu said at TEDx Nairobi. Kahiu said that many African myths and folktales are laced with spiritualism and science fiction. “It's always been a part of us,” she said.

This connection to an African and African-diasporic perspective and other ancient wisdom is one that Afrofuturists seek.

Dr. Jarita Holbrook dedicates her life to uncovering the history of African stargazing. “My work as a researcher fills in the blanks. When you say African astronomy, there are only two [cultures] that come to mind, the Egyptians and the Dogon. The point was to give a voice to everyone else,” she says.