Workshop

TUE 15, 22, 29 NOV

Black Archives Helsinki‍

BAH fills the gaps in the history regarding Black people and *Afro-Finns, reminding us of the importance -and the joy- of preserving and sharing their knowledge, traditions, histories and cultures. The main objectives of the BAH are to identify, preserve and document the Black and Afro-Finnish cultural heritage. In other words, BAH wants to contribute to raising awareness of Blackness and Afro-Finnishness by centering those heritages and traditions; how they have been carried through changes in society and across generations; and how Afro-Finns and Black people in Finland have been part of Helsinki’s history and culture.


In this collaboration, the Museum of Impossible Forms serves as a place for meeting, engaging in constructive and healing dialogue and learning, and where the experiences of Afro-Finns are always the starting point. It is a place where people do not always have to be confrontational or react against whiteness but rather exist and create from our own perspectives.


The workshop series is a joint production of the Helsinki City Museum and the Museum of Impossible Forms. The results of the workshops will be partly used in a forthcoming exhibition on Afro-Finnishness, which will open in the spring of 2023 at the Helsinki City Museum. The exhibition is influenced by Afro-Finnish people in Helsinki, who have contributed in the exhibition’s content, themes, event planning and the recording of their history and stories.

* In this context Afro-Finnish includes but is not necessarily restricted to the following groups: People of African decent, those who belong to the wider African diaspora such as African Finns, African adopted, African Americans, Afro-Latinos, Afro-Arabs, Afro-Indigenous and Afro-Asians.


The workshops are aimed for people over 18 years old.
The event is free to join.
Depending on the workshop, working languages will be Finnish or English
Snacks will be provided for participants
Registration required, please send an email to: wisam.elfadl@hel.fi
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Program:

Tuesday 15.11.2022, 17:30 – 20:00
HELSINKI THROUGH THE EYES OF AFRO-FINNISH PEOPLE

Tuesday 22.11.2022, 17:30 – 20:00
RECORDING YOUR OWN HISTORY

Tuesday 29.11.2022, 17:30 – 20:00
BLACK ARCHIVE HELSINKI- what is it?
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15.11.2022 17:30 – 20:00
HELSINKI THROUGH THE EYES OF AFRO-FINNISH PEOPLE

The workshop will be held in collaboration with Efe Ogbeide of FEMMA Planning Oy, a company specializing in participatory urban planning.
There is no need to prepare for the workshop, but we hope that everyone will bring one photograph and one image of an object that they feel reflects Afro-Finnishness, blackness or living in a diaspora for themselves.  

The workshop will discuss, among other things, the following issues:
1. how do Afro-descendants and Afro-Finnish move around/use Helsinki and in which spaces do we entertain ourselves and where not?
2. how and in which situations is/are our own Afrotaste/identity emphasized/pressed in a white urban environment?
3. What spaces have we created/appropriated or forgotten to take for ourselves? And why?
4. What characteristics make a building/cultural environment support/interesting to identity?
5. How has Helsinki changed and how does it look to Afro-Finnish people now vs. when our own parents were our age?
6. What kind of legacy would Afro-Finnish people like to leave to the next generations of Afro-Finnish?

The results of the workshops will be used in part for a future exhibition on Afro-Finnishness, which will open in spring 2023 at the Helsinki City Museum.

Light snacks will be served
Participation is free of charge
The workshops are aimed at people over 18 years of age.
Registration required, please send an email to: wisam.elfadl@hel.fi

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22.11.2022 17:30-20:00
RECORDING YOUR OWN HISTORY

What pictures do we take and what pictures have been taken of us?
What do they tell us? Which objects and images are worth documenting?
During the workshop, we will discuss our own photographs and home albums. In this workshop we will see what we are like through the eyes of our parents and what kind of life we live in relation to our parents’ dream.

Light snacks will be served
Participation is free of charge
The workshops are aimed at people over 18 years of age.
Registration required, please send an email to: wisam.elfadl@hel.fi

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29.11.2022 17:30-20:00
BLACK ARCHIVE HELSINKI- what is it?

It is important to record the history of Afro-Finnish people, such as associations, communities and networks, in order to preserve material about Afro-Finnishness for future historical research and generations.
But who are Afro-Finnish and what should an exhibition about Afro-Finnishness say and under what conditions? How do we take into account data security and people’s trust in the archiving process? How could the recording of history be initiated in partnership with the community? 
These and other questions will be answered by Wisam Elfadl, Eero Salmio, Kati Selänniemi and Tuomas Nolvi from the Helsinki City Museum. 

Light snacks will be served
Participation is free of charge
The workshops are aimed at people over 18 years of age.
Registration required, please send an email to: wisam.elfadl@hel.fi