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- Decol Futures: Playing is a Form of Decolonization
Decol Futures: Playing is a Form of Decolonization
Dana Reijerkerk
May 01, 2024
A newsletter to learn about practical ways to decolonize your research and data work-lives with byte-sized drabbles about the daily life of a data professional.
Concept art I drew for my one game jam video game titled, IT BURROWS. It’s a survival horror game about Mr. Turtle running from a giant mole trying to eat him. I drew sketch art, made pixel art in Aseprite, and the final character sprites in Krita.
How Can the Act of Playing Be A Decolonizing Strategy?
Playing is a decolonization skill that we lose as we get older if it’s not prioritized. It’s important to be playful - as a decolonizing strategy - when we play, we’re pushing back against the idea that we have to monetize everything we do.
In any decolonization work, there are external and internal forces. Last year I joined a yoga studio. It brought me out of my comfort zone in a very literal sense. I spend 6 hours a week in a dark room with strangers contorting and bending and stretching myself to see what that looks/feels like. By playing with how I could move my body, I rewired my brain to be an extension of my thoughts (I am flexible. I am adaptable.) In my experience, not a lot of data research projects with a decolonization focus incorporate this kind of internal self-reflection. It’s usually, “how can this data affect the output?” or “If we build a database like this, then…”
My example of yoga is a good psychological space to explore internal colonial thoughts that we might not even realize we believe. Decolonization is not happening alone in a room. It’s a community effort. My studio is now one of my few in person social activities I regularly engage in since I’m freelancing remotely full-time- and it reminds me of this community-building aspect.
Decolonization is not mystical. While it can be metaphorical, it is also very literal. As a profession, people in data-centered careers often get lost in capitalistic daydreams and forget the nuanced realities that we’re humans living on floating rock and our accomplishments, big or small, are phenomenal!
Concurrently, in April I participated and competed in 4 video game jams - these are thematic, timed competitions where you create a video game from scratch in a short amount of time. I strongly encourage you to try one yourself - make a text game! Tell a short story and add a photo with it!
This month, I encourage to create something for the sake of creating! Or flex your play in other ways, like by playing a video game. Here’s a paid game from itchio that I played and had a blast.
RECOLIT is a new release by @Image Labo on itchio. Recolit is a pixel art puzzle-adventure game where you search for lights in a town where night never ends.
Educational Opportunities
A short list of things to explore!
Decolonizing Self-Care
In a blog post, Lauren Harrell also reflects on ideas of play, self-care, and radical acceptance to embody some fundamentals of decolonization. I felt this was a good thought piece!
Web Writing for Museums: A Case Study
Ana Cecilia Rocha Veiga, Roberto Vaz, and Paula Odete Fernandes discuss best practices for museum websites, exhibit design, and UX writing. Museums and other cultural heritage institutions need to embrace a strong digital presence - like social media and hashtags and interactivity, like showing text moving across the screen.
Archives in the Atlantic Conference (May 16-18, 2024)
The “Archives in the Atlantic” Conference will explore the ways archives and related cultural heritage institutions throughout the Atlantic World are confronting shared legacies of imperialism, slavery, and Indigenous dispossession through decolonizing traditional standards, developing liberatory practices, and expanding networks of belonging and representation.
Cost: $75 registration fee
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