Neema Githere
| Neema Githere | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1997 Nairobi, Kenya |
| 🏳️ Nationality | Kenyan |
| 💼 Occupation | Artist, writer, theorist |
| Known for | #Digitaldiaspora, Afropresentism, Data Healing |
Neema Githere is an artist, writer, and theorist whose multidisciplinary practice engages with themes of digital culture, Afrodiasporic identity, love, indigeneity, and collective healing. Githere is credited with originating the concepts of Afropresentism and Data Healing, and with founding the transnational research initiative #Digitaldiaspora.[1][2][3][4]
Early life and education
Githere was born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1997.[1] They began their creative and research-based artistic practice during undergraduate studies at Yale University in 2016. That same year, Githere initiated the #Digitaldiaspora project, which involved travel to more than 20 countries to document how Afrodiasporic communities articulate identity across digital and physical spaces.[1]
Career
#Digitaldiaspora
Launched in 2016, #Digitaldiaspora is a transnational research-driven initiative exploring how Black diasporic communities navigate identity formation through digital and physical environments. The project incorporates ethnographic documentation, digital media analysis, and community engagement.[1]
Afropresentism
In 2017, Githere coined the term Afropresentism to describe a conceptual and artistic framework centered on diasporic embodiment in the era of Big Data. It merges archival research, documentary approaches, and fine art practices using new media technologies.[1][5]
Fellowships and residencies
Between 2023 and 2024, Githere was a Practitioner Fellow at Stanford University’s Digital Civil Society Lab, housed in the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS) and the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE). Their fellowship project, titled Data Healing: A Call for Repair, envisioned a speculative digital rehabilitation clinic addressing psychosocial harms propagated by social media and Big Tech platforms, informed by Indigenous value systems and relational healing models.[2]
In 2024, Githere was appointed a Democracy Machine Fellow at Eyebeam, an arts and technology center based in New York City.[1]
Artistic practice
Githere’s multidisciplinary practice includes writing, software-based creative work, curation, community organizing, travel, and performance. Their approach emphasizes "relationality-as-art" and critically examines the internet as both a creative medium and a structure prone to harm.[1] Githere has presented, lectured, and consulted at institutions such as Studio Olafur Eliasson, Princeton University, CARA NYC, Savvy Contemporary, Microsoft, and Twitter.[6] Their work intersects with collective healing initiatives, feminist technology frameworks, and speculative design practices.[5]
Concepts
- #Digitaldiaspora – A transnational research and documentation initiative on Afrodiasporic identity across digital and physical landscapes.[1]
- Afropresentism – An artistic and theoretical framework exploring Black diasporic presence and embodiment within digital and data-driven contemporary media contexts.[1][5]
- Data Healing – A speculative model, inspired by Indigenous-informed principles, for addressing digital trauma through mechanisms of repair and collective care.[2]
Reception and commentary
In BOMB Magazine, Githere and collaborator Ethel Tawe discussed concepts such as digital trauma, transcending temporality, and the embodiment inherent in Afropresentism, characterizing the practice as “healing data trauma, transcending time, and embodying Githere's concept of Afropresentism.”[3] Hyperallergic’s announcement of the CARA program “Conjurings” included Githere among participating artists, noting their presence within significant institutional programming.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 "Neema Githere". Eyebeam. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Neema Githere". Stanford PACS. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Neema Githere and Ethel Tawe". BOMB Magazine. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Center for Art, Research and Alliances Opens Space for Future (Un)doings". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Afropresentism: On Incantation and the Machine". Futuress. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
- ↑ "A Workshop on Love and Afropresentism with Neema Githere". Cultbytes. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
External links
- Neema Githere at Eyebeam
- Neema Githere at Stanford PACS
- Neema Githere at Futuress
- Cultbytes feature on Neema Githere
References
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