99 Questions Podcast

This podcast is brought to you by Dr. Aouefa Amoussouvi and 99 Questions at Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss. For more information, show notes and the podcast transcript, visit https://www.humboldtforum.org/en/programm/digitales-angebot/digital-en/decolonial-ecologies-76021/ . Image © Elia Diane Fushi Bekene, selflovetribute.com / Background Image: Sasha Engelmann & Sophie Dyer, "Image transmitted by satellite NOAA-19".

Our second episode with Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs takes a closer look at the fascinating and adaptable skills of marine mammals. We also come back to the practice of breathing and how it can help us to slow down in this fast-moving capitalist world. In addition, Alexis reads us a passage from her book “Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals” and we hear about what marine mammals can teach us about breathing mindfully and intentionally. Together, we also reflect on the harmful narratives created by scientific language, colonialist ideas within the scientific world and how capitalism impacts our ways of inhabiting the Earth. Lastly, we talk about the Afrodeutsch or Afro-German movement as well as Alexis’ current research and book project on the poet, scholar and activist Audre Lorde.

This podcast is brought to you by Dr. Aouefa Amoussouvi and 99 Questions at Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss. For more information, show notes and the podcast transcript, visit https://www.humboldtforum.org/en/programm/digitales-angebot/digital-en/decolonial-ecologies-76021/ . Image © Elia Diane Fushi Bekene, selflovetribute.com / Background Image: Sasha Engelmann & Sophie Dyer, "Image transmitted by satellite NOAA-19".

In this two-part episode our guest is Dr. Alexis Pauline Gumbs, queer Black feminist writer, scholar and activist with whom we dive into her most recent book “Undrowned: Black Feminist Lessons from Marine Mammals”. Where lies the interconnection between marine mammals and Black feminism? What does the queerness of marine mammals look like? What can we as humans learn from marine mammals, their skills, qualities and ways of life? We also discuss how Eurocentrism, patriarchy, capitalism and heteronormativity might be present in the making of scientific knowledge which claims to be objective and universal. Besides, we explore the impact the Western scientific language might have on justifying an extractive relationship with the planet as well as with the human and non-human living beings we share it with. Lastly, Alexis talks with us about the practice and power of breathing consciously.

This podcast is brought to you by Dr. Aouefa Amoussouvi and 99 Questions at Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss. For more information, show notes and the podcast transcript, visit https://www.humboldtforum.org/en/programm/digitales-angebot/digital-en/decolonial-ecologies-76021/ . Image © Elia Diane Fushi Bekene, selflovetribute.com / Background Image: Sasha Engelmann & Sophie Dyer, "Image transmitted by satellite NOAA-19".

Together with activist, researcher and creative Samie Blasingame we take a look at food systems and how today’s global food system is connected to and influenced by colonial history and the exploitation of people and ecosystems. We discuss the meanings behind food labels like “organic”, “local” or “fair trade” and the realities of people like farmers working in food chain production. We also take a look at food diversity, climate and environmental injustices. Finally, we discuss the responsibility of universities to include more voices from the Global South and marginalized people in the academic fields of ecology and environmental studies.

This podcast is brought to you by Dr. Aouefa Amoussouvi and 99 Questions at Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss. For more information, show notes and the podcast transcript, visit https://www.humboldtforum.org/en/programm/digitales-angebot/digital-en/decolonial-ecologies-76021/ . Image © Elia Diane Fushi Bekene, selflovetribute.com / Background Image: Sasha Engelmann & Sophie Dyer, "Image transmitted by satellite NOAA-19".

In the first episode of our series we learn about the colonial history of conservation parks and conservation structure in the Global South, especially Africa, and how those conservation structures are entangled with colonialism and colonial powers. Our guest Dr. Mordecai Ogada, wildlife ecologist from Kenya, conservation policy expert and co-author, together with John Mbaria, of the book “The Big Conservation Lie” tells us about the creation of conservation parks as white spaces and the lack of integration of Black and Indigenous people within the conservation discourse. We also explore how the Western wildlife and conservation narrative is depicted in mainstream media and the arts. Besides, we reflect on how to deal, as individuals, with traveling to conservation areas and finding ways to act responsible with regards to nature and the environment.

This podcast is brought to you by Dr. Aouefa Amoussouvi and 99 Questions at Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss. For more information, show notes and the podcast transcript, visit https://www.humboldtforum.org/en/programm/digitales-angebot/digital-en/decolonial-ecologies-76021/ . Image © Elia Diane Fushi Bekene, selflovetribute.com / Background Image: Sasha Engelmann & Sophie Dyer, "Image transmitted by satellite NOAA-19".

In our podcast series "Decolonial Ecologies", hosted and curated by Dr. Aouefa Amoussouvi, we talk about the history of ecology and how it became a scientific academic field interconnected with systems of power and oppression.

Colonialism, patriarchy, capitalism, Eurocentrism and heteronormativity have been applied to produce ecological knowledge that claims to be universal and objective. Therefore, museums and universities have contributed to shape and justify an extractive way of inhabiting the Earth.

In each episode, you will hear a researcher, an activist or an artist who challenges the Western mainstream narrative on ecology with intersectional feminist and queer perspectives, perspectives from Black, Indigenous and People of Color. We will discuss decolonial practices in both the Global South and the Global North to more ethically respond to the current climate and social crises.

Besides individual and citizen actions, we will also take a look at the responsibility of museums and universities to deconstruct the colonial heritage of their own structures. For example, we will discuss how restitution of colonial artifacts by museums can be seen as a part of the climate and environmental justice agenda.

This podcast is brought to you by Dr. Aouefa Amoussouvi and 99 Questions at Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss. For more information, show notes and the podcast transcript, visit https://www.humboldtforum.org/en/programm/digitales-angebot/digital-en/decolonial-ecologies-76021/ . Image © Elia Diane Fushi Bekene, selflovetribute.com / Background Image: Sasha Engelmann & Sophie Dyer, "Image transmitted by satellite NOAA-19".

This trailer briefly explains what to expect on Access For Who? hosted by Chao Taiyana Maina and Molemo Moiloa.

We explore digital restitution in detail; if digital restitution is being presented as a strategy for safe keeping and preservation, we are asking for who? And for what purposes? And are we making decisions about digitisation that ensure these objectives are met in ethical, equitable ways?

For wider accessibility of the podcast's subject matter, transcripts of the episodes are available in French and German through a free zine, which can be downloaded from the websites of Open Restitution Africa and Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss.

This podcast is brought to you by the Open Restitution Africa project, a collaboration between African Digital Heritage and Andani.Africa. It is made possible with the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss as part of the 99 Questions Podcast.

For more information, visit our websites:

99 Questions at Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss

Open Restitution Africa

Image © Open Restitution Africa

As the two hosts and their guests move towards the end of the series they ask - How can we build sustainable digital infrastructure that is people centered and Africa centered? They reflect on indigenous data sovereignty, data stewardship and creative strategies towards collective care for digital data. Positing that digital collections are not a point of reversal to an idealized past but rather a point of departure towards a collectively imagined future.

For wider accessibility of the podcast's subject matter, transcripts of the episodes are available in French and German through a free zine, which can be downloaded from the websites of Open Restitution Africa and Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss.

This podcast is brought to you by the Open Restitution Africa project, a collaboration between African Digital Heritage and Andani.Africa. It is made possible with the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss as part of the 99 Questions Podcast.

For more information, visit our websites:

Open Restitution Africa

99 Questions at Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss

Image © Open Restitution Africa

This episode explores the complex and entangled questions around legal ownership of digital collections in the face of already contested physical collections. While Western IP systems are built around individual ownership, indigenous knowledge systems are designed to have communal and collective benefits. What limitations and dangers does this present in the context of mass digitisation? Who has the right to make digital copies in the first place? And how can we imagine legal ownership outside Western oriented frameworks?

For wider accessibility of the podcast's subject matter, transcripts of the episodes are available in French and German through a free zine, which can be downloaded from the websites of Open Restitution Africa and Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss.

This podcast is brought to you by the Open Restitution Africa project, a collaboration between African Digital Heritage and Andani.Africa. It is made possible with the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss as part of the 99 Questions Podcast.

For more information, visit our websites:

Open Restitution Africa

99 Questions at Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss

Image © Open Restitution Africa

In this episode the discussants reflect on digital practice as a form of repair, care and knowledge creation. Faced with challenges around access to data, absence of archives and physical removal of objects from communities - How are digital collections creating room for new African narratives and imaginations? What potential does digital restitution hold for African heritage? And how can this contribute to the physical return of artifacts?

For wider accessibility of the podcast's subject matter, transcripts of the episodes are available in French and German through a free zine, which can be downloaded from the websites of Open Restitution Africa and Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss.

This podcast is brought to you by the Open Restitution Africa project, a collaboration between African Digital Heritage and Andani.Africa. It is made possible with the Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss as part of the 99 Questions Podcast.

For more information, visit our websites:

Open Restitution Africa

99 Questions at Stiftung Humboldt Forum im Berliner Schloss

Image © Open Restitution Africa