Emancipatory Urban Futures

Emancipatory Urban Futures is an artistic, design and research partnership with Iyapo Repository Collective aimed at imagining a more inclusive and just city for the next generation. We are concerned that gentrification, as a form of racial capitalism, is contributing to the displacement and dispossession of Black, Brown, and working-class communities of color across New York City. As part of our collective process, we want to open up a creative space to imagine the opposite – what might an emancipatory future might look like? Through participatory workshops that involve virtual reality sketching, game-playing, and discussion groups, we will engage communities in envisioning an urban future rooted in collective well-being, sustainability, and racial justice. Based on the community workshops and discussions, we will create a collective archive of creative artifacts, testimonials, scholarship and resources for community groups.