A short course exploring the interconnectedness of Black life, people, and culture across cosmology, afro-futurism, environmentalism.

The course centres Black Queer artists, art workers, writers and theorists from the Global South and North who offer alternative realities to our current social inequities.

In week one, we will be unpacking what exactly ‘Black Queer Ecology’ is by engaging with crucial writers explored in this course. We will be studying the writings of the Philadelphian collective ‘Black Quantum Futurism’ and the artistic and musical works of Janelle Monae.

Janine Francois

is a Black British Feminist, curator, writer and educator. They are known for their insightful, critical, piercing perspectives on race and social justice. Janine’s practices deconstructs whiteness (and race) within cultural and academic institutions through writing, curating/ producing, research, teaching and consultancy. Janine is also a PhD candidate at the University of Bedfordshire/ Tate, exploring if Tate can be a safer space to discuss issues of race and cultural differences within a teaching and learning context? Janine’s research is set to complete in October 2022 and is funded by Arts Humanities Research Council. Janine is also 1 of 30 Black Caribbean students funded by AHRC during the periods 2016-to 2019.

About Black Blossoms:

The Black Blossoms School of Art and Culture is an intersectional online art school dedicated to documenting and highlighting the art histories and the current creative practices of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour.