Creative Contest 2022: Life Before Colonialism

Meine Welt e.V. in Collaboration with PLACE  for  Africa invites you to participate in the Creative Contest 2022. The selected theme for this year is “Life before Colonialism”. We encourage you to focus during this contest on the diverse spectrum of pre colonial (hi)stories. Additionally, we invite you to become creative in your imagination by submitting to us your material in text, audio,photo collage or video format. 

History started way before colonialism took place. The theme of this year’s Creative contest was selected, because we want to highlight the diverse histories all over the world which are preceding colonialism. Especially, these pre-colonial histories of the Global South are still marginalised and perceived as the ‘’Other’’ by the dominant eurocentric historiography and discourse. 

Thus, the Creative contest becomes an opportunity 

1. to learn and share the diversity of precolonial societies (routines, community structures and roles, norms and values, spirituality, thoughts and wishes, languages; architectures, common day life, musique, dance, etc), 
2. encourage personal ancestral storytelling, 
3. dismantle negative stereotypes,
4. and decolonizing history and historiography through a creative approach, since the range of subtopics for each submission should be chosen freely by the contestant.

Process of participation 

What is expected of you?

1. Select a specific topic related to precolonial history. Try to be creative in your selection, and we encourage you to dig deeper into the history of your ancestors before colonialism. Research about the topic from various sources. These sources can include people in  your communities, historical spaces, folklore, academic articles, forums, books, museums, etc. We value both research outside of academia and scientific research.
2. Select your format of submission. You can write a text, film a video or record an audio in which you explain your research.
3. Submit your creative work in this Google form from the 17.08.2022 to the 18.09.2022. Your work will be sent to the jury of this year’s contest, and you will hear back from us in October 2022.

Length of the fourth formats 

You want to submit a text:

• This format encourages you to write 1000 words maximum . The format of the text should be in line with your topic of interest, so please, think about in what ways your selected format suits your knowledge and make use of this advantage. For instance, if your topic is about a specific person that lived before colonialism, then writing a diary entry might be a suitable format for highlighting your collected knowledge(s).

You want to submit an art design:

• This format encourages you to design an art piece and describe and contextualize it with a text of 500 words. Please also send us a picture or a short video of your art piece. Creating an art piece, for instance a cartoon, allows you to present your selected topic of interest in a more physical format.The art design must be of maximum 100 Mb.

You want to submit a video:

• This format encourages you to film a video of five minutes. The video should be highlighting your topic of interest by allowing it to be part of your video. For instance, if you selected topic of interest is about pre-colonial architecture then filming the architecture for your video might be suitable. The video will be of maximum 5 min and 300 Mb.

You want to submit an audio:

• This format encourages you to record an audio of five minutes. Selecting the audio format opens the possibility to host, for example, your own radio show or include a short interview. For instance, if your selected topic of interest is about precolonial myths, then recording a story might be suitable.The audio will be 5 min maximum and 10 Mb Format MP 3.

Timeline and attendance of 3 different information sessions 

More information about the Creative Contest 2022 will be provided in the information sessions, on our website social media platforms.You can attend the information sessions on the following dates:

• 24.08.2022: 4-5pm (GMT+1)
• 31.08.2022: 4-5pm (GMT+1)
• 13.09.2022: 4-6pm (GMT+1)

The prize

The winners will be celebrated at a ceremony hosted by the Black Academy. The best submissions will be awarded with a certificate, prize money, a book and an audio book of their liking. Furthermore, the submissions will be published on the Black Academy website, and the winners are invited to present their work during our future events. All participants will receive a certificate of attendance.

The ceremony where we will announce the winners of the Creative contest will take place on the 29.10.2022 at 10am-12pm (GMT+1).