When we think about legacy, we tend to focus solely on the outcome. The things that exist after the fact. What “matters” seems to be measured in scale, rather than influence. We cannot, however, discount the multi-generational impact of planting a single seed today. It’s not about being remembered, but what we leave behind. It doesn’t need to be something big, it just needs to be something. And as collective care is an ancient practice, we don’t need to do it alone.

On the 15th of February, MAKE:BELIEVE hosted FUTURE ANCESTORS: Folklore, Heirlooms and the Digital Age of Cultural Preservation.

A collaborative exercise that explored the creative possibilities within new forms of cultural preservation that neither abandon tradition nor resist innovation. Starting off with key areas of our lives that have been impacted by the steady migration to online. Where folklore becomes content, stories are read off a script, cultural necessities are found in trend reports and retellings take about the same amount time it takes to hit “repost.”

Transmission & Embodiment

The shift from traditional to digital storytelling possesses distinctions that run far deeper than style and format. In digital transmission we’ve lost presence; the co-habitation of storyteller and lister. The ability to respond, react and question in real time. The adaptability to audience and environment.

Traditional storytelling is flexible, and iterative. Digital, on the other hand, freezes stories in the specific versions in which they were captured. While digital storytelling creates opportunities for curating and conserving cultural stories, as well as increased potential for learning, we lose layers of embodied experience, enrichment and meaning.

Communities of practice

Family kitchens, community centres, religious institutions or neighbourhood cafes used to provide natural arenas where cultural knowledge flowed organically between generations, facilitating learning through participation rather than instruction.

Digital platforms attempt to recreate these spaces through online communities, social networks and virtual events, but are yet to provide an equivalent to the sensory richness, informal encounters and serendipitous exchanges that make communal gatherings an effective vehicle for transmission and learning.

Cultural homelessness

“Not knowing where we belong, never knowing where home is.” The feeling of detachment from one roots, history, and past, often resulting from the disconnection to stories, artefacts and practices that create anchors of meaning. It could be from frequent moves, displacement or or the physical isolation related to deeper online connections.

Digital archives replace heirlooms, traditional gathering spaces vanish and storytelling is algorithmic rather than interpersonal. A profound sense of displacement emerges that leaves people feeling “rootless.”

Memory anchors

Physical heirlooms are more than just objects and trinkets. They contain stories, connection and triggers for cultural memory. Heirlooms possess embodied knowledge. We can only access the information by physically interacting with the object. While digital archiving can preserve images and information about the items, it cannot fully convey their textures, weight, sound or scent. Sensory experiences that contribute to the richness of the memory itself.

Annotation

With each generation we find the curators and custodians of cultural knowledge who take on the responsibility of preservation and transmission. Through them we find “annotations” to our cultural stories as they are adapted to the social or political contexts and mindsets of their time. Through this we emerge with rituals that are passed down through generations that long outlive the contexts that necessitated their creation.

Digital technology may create an opportunity to help us better preserve and understand these contexts and where they came from, creating a story of the stories we pass down through generations

The workshops

Together, we expanded and converged our thinking. Moving through multiple rounds of individual reflection, sound boarding and collective brainstorming. Drawing on our own experiences: What feels like home? How do we bring it back? Why did it leave?

We explored ideas at the intersections of themes and questions that kept coming up during the session. Putting ourselves in the place of an ‘ancestor,’ and drawing out ideas of how we can serve the future with knowledge of today.

What if you could capture the complete memory of your first day at school? Your grandmothers house? The smell of rain in the air after a dry season? How could we think of archiving where everything is photographed, written down, collected and compartmentalised. Everything except for sensory memory?

How do we rediscover the feeling and nuance of sitting in front of an uncle or teacher as they retell stories passed on through generations? Catching every subtle expression, the slight inflection in their tones, the rising and falling of their voices to match the turbulent journey through odysseys, almost as if speaking from having experienced the tale in real life?

What if we could flex our general muscle memories and renew the pride in traditional crafting skills. Creating spaces of learning through practice that train new custodians of culture. Augmenting ancient skills with digital tools.

You just had to be there, but we were honoured to have a warm introduction by poet and writer, Hamzah Mayaki. Who took us through a journey of growth, detachment and rediscovery of cultural identity.

If the FOMO has gotten to you, great! There’s still a chance to immerse yourself into this journey by picking up a copy of this poem which will soon be available as a visual diary. Stay in touch to learn when it’s released.

MAKE:BELIEVE is still in its pilot phase, but you can keep up with our journey and stay updated on future events and projects by joining us here on Substack and on Instagram.