In May 2024, as the Dakar Biennale faced postponement, we took the opportunity to gather for a three-week residency in Dakar and Toubab Dialo, fostering a space of reflection, study, and collective crossings. 

Bringing together Archive Ensemble and the participating artists of the Haptic Library, this gathering extended the ongoing co-learning process within the framework of “the wake” work—an urge into remembrance, continuity, and resistance amid the world’s unfolding genocides and catastrophes. In this space, we sought refuge in the words of Toni Morrison and the embodied practices that have shaped our thinking on building the Haptic Library as a receptacle, a space of non-linear knowledge. This extends to our participants’ practices: Banji Chona’s basket-making as a vessel of memory, Keren Lasme’s deep attunement to the earth as a primary archive, Diana Ejaita’s exploration of symbology and Elsa M’bala’s finds .

The residency was a moment of co-learning and activation, enriched by our participation in the African Art Book Fair. We hosted a dinner to celebrate the new home of AWU in Ouakam, and welcome fellow participants of the fair. On this occasion, we also had the chance to meet with esteemed curator Natasha Ginwala, engaging in conversations on curating and publishing and learning about her research for the next Sharjah Biennale, alongside remarkable practitioners and artists. 

We hosted a book presentation of Seloua Luste Boulbina’s latest book, Sortir de Terre: Une Philosophie du Végétal, published in French by Jimsaan and soon to be published in English by Archive Books, at IFAN in the Mbok library curated by Kany Ndiaye Sarr. We engaged in sound poetry by Savanna Morgan, reflecting on the legacies of the blues. We built, unpacked, and activated our own library, reflecting on the resonances between the books, our practices, and our ongoing quests. In parallel, Archive Ensemble hosted study days, where the residents took the time to learn from and inform each other about their practices and discussions. This nurtured an intimate space for shared learning and expanded on how knowledge is created, shared, and remembered.

This program stands as an homage to the many women whose intellectual and creative legacies continue to shape our thinking and making—Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Saidiya Hartman, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Denise Ferreira da Silva, Seloua Luste Boulbina, M. Jacqui Alexander, and the many women before them.