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Artists

Black Quantum Futurism

Rasheedah Phillips: She // Her // Hers, They // Them // Theirs
Camae Ayewa: She // Her // Hers

Interdisciplinary Artists

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Two Black people standing in front of a beige granite wall. Rasheedah has light brown skin and is wearing blue lipstick, and Camae has medium brown skin with locs down to their back.

Photo by Ryan Collerd, courtesy of The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.

Black Quantum Futurism is an interdisciplinary creative practice between Camae Ayewa and Rasheedah Phillips exploring the intersections of futurism, creative media, DIY aesthetics, and activism in marginalized communities through an alternative temporal lens.Their  work focuses on the recovery, collection, and preservation of communal memories, histories, and futures. BQF has produced a number of experimental music projects, exhibitions, writing, films, performances, and community-based events, including the award-winning Community Futures Lab.

BQF is a 2018 Velocity Fund Grantee, 2018 Solitude x ZKM Web Resident, 2017 Center for Emerging Visual Artists Fellow, 2017 Pew Fellow, 2016 A Blade of Grass Fellow, and has presented, exhibited, and performed at Red Bull Arts, New York; ICA, London; Manifesta 13, Marseille; Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago; Serpentine Gallery, London; Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia; Open Engagement, Chicago; and more.

Donor -The Knight Arts + Tech Fellowship is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

This artist page was last updated on: 08.20.2024

Media
A view from the interior of a dimly lit booth bathed in a teal glow. A clock, a telephone, a shelf holding various tablets and photographs, and a plaque identifying the structure as the "Oral Futures Booth" adorn the wallpapered structure. The rest of the amber-colored gallery can be seen through a window in the booth.

Black Womxn Temporal Portal by Black Quantum Futurism, 2018 – present. Digital web portal, IRL sculptural booth, video, and print media, dimensions variable. Installation at Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia.

Photo by D1L0 DeMille.

Outside the Palais Longchamp there is a cylindric stage interlocking with another cylindric stage. Both of the circular platforms have graphic text and digital textures patterning the floor.

Nonlinear Histories & Quantum Futures by Black Quantum Futurism, 2020. Public sculpture with interactive element. Installation at Manifesta 13, Marseille, France.

Photo by Jean Christophe Lett; courtesy the artists.

A screenshot of the Community Futurisms website. The page reads “Welcome to Community Futures Lab: a communal Quantum time capsule of stories of the past, present, and futures of North Philly. Click on a marker to see what’s behind, or sign-up to add your own story to the map!” Behind the text is a map.

Community Futures Lab (screenshot) by Black Quantum Futurism, 2016 – ongoing. Installation, socially engaged art, and digital site.