Central’s Dr Dani Ploeger Exhibits Disobedient Devices at the Nairobi National Museum
Throughout August, Central Research Fellow Dr Dani Ploeger will exhibit Disobedient Devices at the Nairobi National Museum in Kenya.
Dr Ploeger has been working together with artists Greenman Muleh Mbillo and Joan Otieno since 2017 on their research project of the same name, funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund. The outcomes of their research will form the basis of the exhibit.
Disobedient Devices imagines a future with technology that draws from local stories, myths and memories, instead of globally standardized digital systems by Big Tech. Through the modification and appropriation of used electric and electronic appliances the project envisages a technological culture that connects to people’s lifeworlds and that goes beyond nihilistic and unsustainable ideologies of endless growth and ‘progress’.
The show includes eight devices developed by artists, fundis and academics who participated in workshops organised in 2019-20, as well as three short science-fiction films by Mbillo, Otieno and Ploeger in which these objects are put to work.
Of the exhibition, Dr Dani Ploeger said:
“I am excited that the Nairobi National Museum has invited us to present our work. This institution is one of the foremost museums in Africa, famous for its engagement with human lifeworlds and collections on colonial and post-colonial ethnography and biology. Our research connects to the museum’s permanent displays in myriad ways, especially in terms of its exploration of technological appropriation in the context of local and regional cultural practices. Exhibiting our work in this context has been a great opportunity to bring the research to the attention of a broad audience, as well as stimulate a cross-pollination between historical and contemporary reflections on technology.”
Exhibiting our work in this context has been a great opportunity to bring the research to the attention of a broad audience, as well as stimulate a cross-pollination between historical and contemporary reflections on technology.
The Disobedient Devices project in Kenya forms part of a larger research project into everyday electronics, waste, repair and re-appropriation, initiated by Dr Ploeger in 2013 at Central. During the eight years since its inception, Dr Ploeger has worked with artists, humanities researchers, scientists and technicians from across Europe, Africa and Asia, supported by grants from the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Global Challenges Research Fund, Newton Fund and Mondriaan Fund.
Drawing from digital performance arts, cultural studies of technology, environmentalism and post-colonial criticism, the project has involved field research and collaborative thinking and making during workshops in Nigeria, Kenya, the UK, and Hong Kong. Together with local collaborators and experts-by-experience Dr Ploeger has explored dump sites, second-hand markets, repair shops, wholesale districts and shopping malls, in response to four – at times overlapping – areas: ‘Wastes’, ‘Disposables’, ‘Repairs’ and ‘Appropriations’.
More information about Dr Ploeger’s work can be found on the Disobedient Devices website including an overview of the project’s activities and outcomes.
Dr Ploeger’s film The Cults — a 16mm sci-fi short which is included in the exhibition at the Nairobi National Museum — will also be shown in the autumn in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK with details to follow.
The Disobedient Devices exhibit runs through 31 August 2021 at the Nairobi National Museum. Objects by Moira Bushkimani, Onyango Geke, Greenman Muleh Mbillo, Joe K’ochola, Wanjiku Wa Mwangi, Charles Otieno, Joan Otieno and Dani Ploeger. Video production by Jochem Weststrate.
Disobedient Devices is organised by Central and Warembo Wasanii Art Studio in Nairobi. It is supported by the Global Challenges Research Fund.
