January 9, 2011

I'm pleased to announce my acceptance into the Afrique Profonde artist residency program in Congo-Brazzaville, Summer 2011. In this area of my site I will be providing a view to the development of the project.

Abstract

Afrique Profonde, a Brazzaville-based nonprofit organization that conducts cultural exchange programs, artist residencies, and advocacy work on behalf of the Pygmy throughout the Congo Basin, is one of the few organizations striving to provide direct culture brokerage between the Pygmy and the outside world. Scott Zagar, artist and web developer, is working with Afrique Profonde on a web-based initiative that will help eradicate the isolation of the Pygmy in the Congo Basin region. The goal of this collaborative residency project is to place the music, art, cultural happenings and socio-political developments of the Pygmy directly into the social network mix through the active participation of resident artists of the Afrique Profonde program. This will be achieved using a contemporary Internet publishing platform that will be made available to the public at www.afriqueprofonde.org. 

The project, begun in London in August 2010 and to be fulfilled in Congo between July and September 2011, consists of two parts:

1. Design and build a social networking platform that will facilitate the real-time documentation of the cross-cultural exchange between all Afrique Profonde resident artists and the indigenous peoples (Pygmy and Bantu) of the Congo Basin. 

2. Engage in cultural exchange through painting with Pygmy artisans in the Ituri rainforest and document this activity using the platform.

Background: The Isolation of the Pygmy

The Pygmy of the Congo Basin, one of the last extant hunter-gatherer cultures in the world, possess ancient and rich traditions derived from a depth of communion with the forest. Their obscurity, however, is increasingly tragic and ultimately untenable. The Pygmy today are all but powerless to the forces encroaching upon them in the forms of deforestation, mining, national parks development, and their forced indentured servitude in outlying Bantu villages.

Indigenous cultures like the Pygmy need to be appreciated worldwide in order that their interests can be preserved and progressively integrated with the changing world. The last 50 years, however, have shown time and again that political and humanitarian aid effort has not adequately addressed the social problems concerning indigenous peoples of Africa.  The only hope for integration is through action taken by individuals and organizations from around the world. Freely-available technological solutions exist today that can be utilized to generate global awareness of the Pygmy's cultural signifigance. Today there exists only a scant amount of Internet activity concerning the Pygmy: a few video clips to be found on YouTube, and a handful of well-meaning but essentially static web sites providing general reportage of a loosely academic nature. There is no living online community where one can see what's happening in this region of the world today; where such personal exchange can occur, either on an anthropological or a simply entertaining level. This lack of connectivity -- essentially a black hole across the Congo Basin -- represents a great opportunity for creative development -- to put the Pygmy on the map, and to facilitate real-time cross-cultural communication in the true spirit of the Internet.

Part 1: Bridging a Cultural Divide

Scott Zagar will provide Afrique Profonde with contemporary Internet publishing technology in the form of a fully-developed multi-user content management system (Drupal CMS).  He will train AP administrators to use the system effectively. The system will be used by visiting Afrique Profonde (AP) residents (approximately 30 artists, musicians and academics per year) to document their day-to-day interaction with the Pygmy. Each AP resident will receive a user profile and personal section on the web site for the duration of his or her residency work, to document their project work with blog entries, photos and videos, etc. The visiting artists will function as mediators between the Pygmy and the outside world. 

The CMS will feature geospatial >mapping technology and a dynamic taxonomy, thus making relevant information available for all levels of viewers from casual to academic. The CMS will facilitate automatic social network integration for each contributing resident. Content added to the CMS can be instantly posted to each artists' personal social networking accounts. 

Scott Zagar will have the web site built prior to departure for Congo in July so that it will be fully available to the program participants in a finished state. From his position in Congo he will provide initial administration and support for the site, while simultaneously working on the second component of his project.

Part 2: Artistic Exchange 

Scott Zagar will spend several weeks living with the Pygmy in the Ituri Forest in Congo-Kinshasa where he will research contemporary Pygmy culture through collaborative bark painting sessions. Bark painting is an essential and long-standing part of Mbuti Pygmy culture, though it has little documentation over the past 15 years. Scott will seek to learn how this artform is used among the Mbuti today.

Working as one resident among approximately 25 others in the AP program at this time, he will utilize the CMS to document his day-to-day experience. In this way he will provide proof-of-concept of the project and see it through to completion from within the forest itself.  

Post-Residency

Following the residency, the web site will be handed over to Afrique Profonde for further development through successive residency programs. All material in the CMS will be administered by AP directors and will be freely available at Afriqueprofonde.org. AP plans to continue develop the platform for years to come presumably in conjunction with future resident web developers.  

Scott Zagar will make himself available to share his experience with academic- and cultural institutions, humanitarian organizations, and anyone interested. He will donate 50% of all sales from art produced in this residency to an aid organization. He will actively seek further involvement in the cultural development of indigenous people around the world. 

Summary

The project will constitute contribution to the development of the Pygmy peoples and the information technology-related activity of the Congo Basin. It aims to function as a hub for related humanitarian and cultural organizations. There is currently no Pygmy-centric web site in existence today with such features. It is the intent of Scott Zagar to develop it so that it may serve as a working model for future projects. 

Scott Zagar, professional a web developer and artist, is providing all web development service (estimate 150-200 hrs) voluntarily.