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chidi.co

@chidi.co

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Artist | Designer | Creative technologist | Stealing back what was stolen @looty.art
www.chidi.co

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How We Rewild - Chidi Nwaubani

“Through LOOTY, the ancestors will be very happy.”

When I first heard about Chidi’s project, LOOTY, I just needed a moment to absorb the absolute divinity of the idea and its sublime execution. It’s one of the most ingenious and innovative projects I’ve ever come across. For me, it’s afrofuturism in action.

While some of us are just starting to envisage new ways of being in the world, Chidi has been creating them. I want to live in his afrofuture where stolen artefacts are reclaimed and reimagined through digital repatriation, NFTs and immersive AR/VR experiences. Yes, that is what I said.

Through LOOTY, Chidi is revolutionising the art world while, simultaneously, challenging colonial legacies and empowering communities to reconnect with their heritage in different and transformative ways.

And it was particularly for these latter two reasons that I wanted to connect with him here on How We Rewild. I love that while Chidi is an absolute visionary and leader in the design space, he is envisioning and creating new ways to heal within the Black and Brown wellness space. It makes me excited that Black and Brown healing could look so different in the AfroFuture. Where else might this go? What else might healing look like? He’s opening up portals to new, empowering ways of healing.

While LOOTY has quite rightly been widely recognised and uplifted in the art and design world, I didn’t see too many conversations about it from the cultural healing perspective. To me, LOOTY immediately struck me as a project, or movement, that was borne out of a desire for unity, for community and personal healing. And I wanted to dig deeper and have a conversation that explored the healing aspects of this project and what it means to Chidi in terms of ancestral healing, community healing but also his own personal healing.

Head to the link in bio to read or listen to his interview in full 👑

And big thanks @partridge_caroline for the introduction ❤️‍🔥

#howwerewild #blackhealing #repatriation #ancestorwork #blackwellness #blackhealth #decolonisation #decolonizeyourmind #blackrewilding #blackcreatives #blackdesigners

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In episode 2, “Every Day For The Thief,” we critique western curatorial ideology and posit new modes of curation as we imagine what an ideal African museum could be. If western museums are built on, and revolve around, capital, then perhaps African museums should be centered around community. Imagine if museums were a space to learn about ourselves and our culture through the stories, artifacts, heirlooms, and practices of our elders. Our indigenous wealth of knowledge is typically shared communally, through oral archives, craft apprenticeships, and spirituality, as we see in the practice of constructing Mbari Houses by the Igbo people of Imo state in South-East Nigeria. In planning and dreaming about the future, we can always find traditional examples from the past that reflect our communal ethos, and prioritize the elevation and dissemination of our cultures. Episode 2 is out this week – set a reminder and tune in wherever you get your podcasts 🎧😉🔗Link In Bio

Host: Sumayyah Sunmade Raji
Guests: Ilê Sartuzi and Chidi Nwabuani
Production: Simi Esan (diasporicfemmestudio.com)

Archival Images
-      1.    Images 1,7: “Mbari houses,” photographer unknown, panafrocore.com, 2024
    2.    “Cement reconstruction of an Mbari at the Museum of Traditional Architecture (MOTNA), Jos, Nigeria (1982),” Herbert M. Cole, Hyperallergic, 2021
    3.    “Thatching with palm leaf mats, among the Igbo people,” G.T. Basden, “Among the Igbos of Nigeria,” 1921
    4.    “View of painted tableaux on side of Mbari House (1968),” Herbert M. Cole, Hyperallergic, 2021
    5.    “Artist painting effigy of owner (1967),” Herbert M. Cole, Hyperallergic, 2021
    6.    “Exterior view of Mbari house (1967),” Herbert M. Cole, Hyperallergic, 2021
    7.    Mbari House with Relief Carving, Herbert M. Cole
    8.    “Urata-Igbo Mbari votive shrine,” Edward Chatwick, 1927-1943, Twitter (@chukatweet), 2024
    9.    “Mbari,” kathywosika.com, 1988

#TheNativeNigerian #InMyNativeBag #AfricanArchives

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Recap from last week at #meshfestival Basel 🇨🇭What if the museum was modular? While current debates about whether artifacts should be physically returned continue endlessly, we’ve has taken matters into her own hands #digitalart #looty

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RESTITUTION… et après?

Three months ago, we closed Restitution…et après?, an impactful exhibition curated by Chéria Essieke and the New Afro team at the Institut français Mainz.

From May 23 to June 6, four visionary African artists (Chelsea Ofufu, Chidi Nwaubani, Ibaaku and Nuits Balnéaires) explored the future of cultural heritage through their unique Afro-futurist lens.

This exhibition was more than a showcase; it sparked essential conversations on restitution and what lies ahead. The insightful panel with Dr. Anna-Maria Brandstetter, Clément Ndé Fongang, and the artists deepened this dialogue around our “Palabra Tree”.

Supported by the Rheinland-Pfalz Ministry of Culture’s Kultursommer 2024 grant, the Mainz exhibition may have ended, but for us, it’s just the beginning. We’re grateful to all who visited, supported, and engaged in this vital conversation.

We look forward to bringing more creatives into this project and exploring new platforms for discussing reparations and restitution. Stay tuned…
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#newafro
#artexhibition
#contemporaryart #afrofuturism
#africancreativestotheworld
#mainz
#germany
#art
#painting
#restitution
#culturalheritage
#grandbassam
#fotography
#restitution
#restitutionetaprès

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Kicking off 2025 with another Diasporic Daze and this time we have our fave duo from LOOTY in the studio for a full-on audio takeover ⚡️

@Chidi.co⁩ and @⁨mister_stretch⁩ are back for a take through Music, Art and history that inspired LOOTY’S Digital Heist for stolen colonial loot.

Stay locked ⚡️ netilradio.com

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The @Investeccapetownartfair’s highly anticipated Talks Programme that takes place today brings together some of the most influential voices in contemporary art. This year’s discussions will delve into the intersections of digital media, environmental responsibility, and the power of global collaboration, offering fresh perspectives on the ever-evolving art landscape. Whether you’re an artist, collector, or art enthusiast, these conversations promise to inspire, challenge, and spark new dialogues about the future of art.

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Explore the intersection of technology and cultural heritage with us on the 22nd and 23rd of March in our Lunch & Learn Series event: Preserving African Heritage in the Digital Age. This is a two-day, online event bringing together practitioners within Africa’s heritage sector to share insights from from real-world digitization efforts, and foster discussions on the future of heritage preservation amongst cultural practitioners.

We will explore how technology is merging with cultural heritage, delving into topics like the evolution of how practitioners and audiences interact with heritage, the ethical considerations of technological integration, and the implications of these capabilities for African institutions, like with MOWAA’s Plaques Digitization Project.

The event will feature insights from
→ Chidi Nwaubani, the founder of Looty, a visionary designer, artist and tech practitioner @chidi.co @lootynft
→ Dominique Petit-Frère, founder of Limbo Accra, a spatial designer and strategist based between NYC & Accra @limboaccra
→ Solange Mbanefo, currently co-curator and exhibition designer at the Museum Rietberg in Zürich, Switzerland, as well as an architect, curator, researcher, designer, and activist
→ Joey Ekunwe, a multi-talented artist, and the lead creative for 360° videos at Imisi 3D one of Africa’s top most XR (Extended Reality) creation labs.
→ Mutanu Kyany’a, a memory worker platforming community histories and identities through digital innovations.
MOWAA is grateful to be partnering with the Ford Foundation to shape the digital future of heritage in Nigeria and West Africa. Sign up to both days through the link in our bio.

#africanart #africanfuture #changingtheworldonestepatatime #artandtechnology #tech

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#Repost @mowaaofficial
・・・
Explore the intersection of technology and cultural heritage with us on the 22nd and 23rd of March in our Lunch & Learn Series event: Preserving African Heritage in the Digital Age. This is a two-day, online event bringing together practitioners within Africa’s heritage sector to share insights from from real-world digitization efforts, and foster discussions on the future of heritage preservation amongst cultural practitioners.

We will explore how technology is merging with cultural heritage, delving into topics like the evolution of how practitioners and audiences interact with heritage, the ethical considerations of technological integration, and the implications of these capabilities for African institutions, like with MOWAA’s Plaques Digitisation Project.

The event will feature insights from: → Chidi Nwaubani, the founder of Looty, a visionary designer, artist and tech practitioner @chidi.co @lootynft → Dominique Petit-Frère, founder of Limbo Accra, a spatial designer and strategist based between NYC & Accra @limboaccra → Solange Mbanefo, currently co-curator and exhibition designer at the Museum Rietberg in Zürich, Switzerland, as well as an architect, curator, researcher, designer, and activist → Joey Ekunwe, a multi-talented artist, and the lead creative for 360° videos at Imisi 3D one of Africa’s top most XR (Extended Reality) creation labs. → Mutanu Kyany’a, a memory worker platforming community histories and identities through digital innovations.  → MOWAA’s Digital Team on MOWAA’s ongoing initiative, the Plaques Digitisation Project.

MOWAA is grateful to be partnering with the Ford Foundation to shape the digital future of heritage in Nigeria and West Africa. Sign up to both days through the link in our bio.

#africanheritage #digitisation

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Recapping the last 30 days has been crazy 🤪 … Just reminiscing on @nftparis.xyz thank you to everyone that supported, shared and turned up to the @lootynft booth powered by @lookingglassfactory #hologram #looty #web3 #digitalart #NFT

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This week ended our booth @artdubai. Thanks to all those who visited us and were able to see the Reurn of Rashid! Was an honour to be amongst such great artist showing the future of where art, history, and cutting-edge technology converge! Powered by @lookingglassfactory . 🖼️✨ #arttechfusion #artdubai #nft #hologram #ar #snapchat

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Closing the chapter on an extraordinary experience at Art Dubai! Thank you to everyone who immersed themselves in our art and tech fusion. I hope that you were inspired and we can rethink the way we memorialise our arts and culture. Until the next canvas unfolds! Big thanks to @lookingglassfactory for powering our booth with the Hologram displays #ArtDubai #LOOTYExperience #hologram #arts #tech #socialnchange #lookingglass #looty

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My Friend @chidi.co tries my Annoying Beer Mug

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