EYEO 2022: SALOME ASEGA

I had a feeling my toolkit, my creative reference, was stale.

A friend of mine told me, “I love all the authors you’ve quoted, but I encourage you to find sources that aren’t just white men.” I am so grateful for that prompt. It stuck with me, and was a motivation to attend the 10th iteration of the EYEO Festival. There’s the notion Art helps us see what we might otherwise not see, helps us experience or empathize with perspectives not our own—so that we can be more effective humans.

My toolkit = What I choose to represent

And I have Salome Asega to thank for enhancing my perspective.

Her work, broadly speaking, helped me consider how representation in data influences not just how we decide, but impacts the kinds of ideas we make. Her latest effort: Risk Assessment Tools (RATs) encourages us to re-think representation in the data and algorithms used to form life-altering decisions. Her collaborations with Powrplnt illuminate useful ways in which access to technology and art improve representation across the creative industries. The ongoing Iyapo Repository strengthens representation for the future of people of African descent.

More than anything I learned my inspiration, my toolkit for idea making, would benefit from re-thinking what and who I choose to represent.