Disruption Network Lab, in collaboration with r0g_agency and #ASKnet presents a two days of remote learning program on Creative Hacktivism.

The webinar is organised to provide participants an in-depth understanding of creative practice in the field of media hacktivism and participation, bringing case studies of artists and activists, and of detailed processes and tools to critically design participation and cooperation through media.

Special guest on Wednesday 13 September will be Ugandan musician, DIY synth maker and entrepreneur Brian Bamanya, also known for his debut album and hardware platform Afrorack. Bamanya created and digitally fabricated Africa's first DIY modular synthesiser due to the scarcity and cost of this technology in Uganda and Africa, and adapted the modules, originally designed for European and American styles, to East African rhythms and scales. Under the moniker Afrorack, as an antithesis to the Eurorack - the commercial and expensive format of modular synthesisers - Brian generated and made available a new creative environment in which the fusion of acid and techno with traditional African music makes room for new experimentation in the Ugandan and East African cultural context. Overall, his approach represents an excellent example of creative hacking for artistic production that - through open source protocols - generates cultural and thus social impact.

Special guest on Tuesday 19 September will be Stella Nyanzi, Ugandan academic, activist, artist, and agitator currently living in Germany where she is a scholarship holder in the Writers-in-Exile program at the PEN Zentrum Deutschland. Stella Nyanzi has a PhD from the University of London in medical anthropology, with a specialty in human sexualities. Her research focuses on family planning, sexual sub-cultures, masculinities, and queer African studies. She self-identifies as a radical queer African feminist scholar and activist.
Her activism focuses on menstrual poverty, women’s subjugation, and LGBTIQA+ rights in homophobic contexts. She writes dissident poetry critical of the government failures of president Yoweri Museveni. The writing of this poetry led to her being arrested, charged, convicted, and sentenced to eighteen months in a maximum security prison.

This event is part of a series of webinars for the #ASKnet community in South Sudan and Uganda and it’s open only to members of the community.

https://asknet.community
https://pan-african-music.com/en/afrorack
https://www.youtube.com/afrorack