IMPACT COMMUNICATION
AND INNOVATION
AND INNOVATION
A Torus is a movement composed of different people who have been reflecting on the spirit of the times and, with it, the artistic and cultural manifestations that are defining our present, connecting with our past, and guiding us toward the future. In a recent publication, Victor Hugo Barreto brought up the topic of Afrofuturism alongside media scholar and communications strategist Morena Mariah, who is responsible for the project afrofuturo, where she specifically addresses the theme and its ramifications.
As Barreto describes, “Afrofuturism allows for the possibility of experimenting with a distinct temporal perception. A ‘de-Eurocentralizing’ lens. By proposing a shift in perspective crossed by the issue of race—that is, by proposing to look at the world from an Afrocentric point of view—it provides us with a lens for a previously invisibilized past, for understanding the issues of the present, and for possible futures.”
Although it is an older concept, dating back to around the 1990s, it was with the release of the film adapting the comic book series Black Panther that Afrofuturism became a popular topic in the media. Alongside the release, artists such as Solange, Beyoncé, Janelle Monáe, and even Elza Soares were promoting this new look at African culture in music. In Brazilian literature, Fábio Kabral gained prominence with his novel O Caçador Cibernético Da Rua 13 and Xênia França released her iconic music video Nave. And this week, on April 26th, we have the release of the short film A Jornada, an Afrofuturist project that has been incubated by pianist Jonathan Ferr since 2017.
With a confirmed appearance at this year's Rock in Rio, Ferr has a unique style of combining his jazz and funk influences with elements of rock 'n' roll and even electronic music. In A JornadaThe artist develops a cinematic narrative that translates many of the concepts of Afrofuturism by telling a story that transcends eras and becomes immortalized in archetypes referencing elements of both African culture and contemporary Black culture. The album, titled Trilogia do Amoris the result of the musician's spiritual quest, seeking answers about ancestry, affection, love, energy, and knowledge. Divided into three parts—The Journey, The Rebirth, and The Revolution—the album is also part of an Afrofuturist audiovisual trilogy, with each work sharing the title of its corresponding album chapter.
The first film, A Jornadaspent a year in short film festivals across Brazil, where it won awards for best costume design and was nominated for best soundtrack for the track Luv is the way as a backdrop for the narrative. Even the poster, which features a beautiful image of a Black couple with their bodies covered in tribal yet metallic paint, sets the futuristic yet ancestral tone of the work.
Just as in Afrofuturism, Ferr's short film has a touch of science fiction, similar to the identity of jazz composer Sun Ra, considered one of the pioneers of the movement. According to Ferr, not only he, but other artists as well, have been working on this process of constructing an imaginary for Black people.
Ferr explains that in A Jornadathe team, which included nearly 20 people (mostly Black professionals), sought to find a balance between fantasy and social commentary, while always ensuring the Black body was portrayed in a free, poetic, and sensitive way. “By using certain archetypes to tell this story, science fiction is present, especially regarding the time/space of the narrative.”
This is because the short film moves through three times and three locations: the Kingdom of Iya in 1538, a diaspora in 2017, and the Kingdom of Tundee in 2538. According to Ferr, The Journey seeks a balance between fantasy and social commentary, but always with the concern that the Black body appears in a free, poetic, and sensitive way. “We used some archetypes to tell this story, and science fiction is present there, especially in the question of the story's time and space.” In this sense, the kingdom of Tundee ends up functioning as a representation of Africa, a mystical place from which all Black people came and to which they will also return.
The Kingdom of Iya is actually part of Tundee, and it is there that we meet the central characters of the work: Ona, which means “path” or “journey” in Yoruba, and the Queen of the Kingdom of Eya, who spiritually represents the Africa that mourns for those who depart from her, but who also gives birth to her children, represented by a gourd—an object present in the lives of many African cultures and also found in the gastronomy and craftsmanship of different tribes.
Moving between these two characters is Alaisan, which in Yoruba means “sick person,” representing the dark side of human personality in the narrative. “There is a relationship with the I Ching and Yin and Yang, which repel and attract each other at the same time. That is how our shadow is, too,” comments Ferr. In the present time, which is portrayed as a diaspora (a term, by the way, very important for understanding the issue of contemporary African identity and the precepts of Afrofuturism), we are introduced to Aiye, a princess who discovers ancestral love in Ona. Dressed in earthy tones, Aiye represents a balance and a variation of the Queen of Eya in a mystical environment.
Poetic and engaging, the romantic relationship between Aiye and Ona is represented by captivating choreography, yet it also includes the pain and violence that mark the contemporary Black experience and identity. When Ferr chooses to begin The Journey in the year 1537, he does so consciously, selecting a date when the enslavement of Black people began to be widely exploited in Brazil and the Americas. It is the moment of rupture with Mother Africa, a first diaspora that does not cease even in the present represented in 2017. Using Afrofuturism as an aesthetic and artistic reference actually becomes an educational, philosophical, and sociological tool, as Ferr explains:
When we are thinking about a Black future, in a country like Brazil that kills and incarcerates the Black population, we are talking about the social sphere and creating imagery that helps the entire Black population change the trajectory of their destinies. This is a social revolution that is rising—slowly, but it is.” Jonathan Ferr
His opinion also finds a parallel in the stance of Morena Mariah when she describes Afrofuturism as a worldview that goes beyond its political, philosophical, cultural, and aesthetic power. As she argues, it is a way of “seeing oneself as a Black person and understanding the state of things in which we are inserted and how they got here. In other words, it is knowing the past and how it brought us to the moment we are in.”
The short film The Journey will be released this Friday, the 26th, across social media channels for Jonathan Ferr.
