The JHI is pleased to announce our 2025-26 New Media Public Humanities Postdoctoral Fellow—Qanita Lilla (PhD Stellenbosch University, 2018). Qanita is a curator, researcher and podcaster. She is interested in liberating traditional collections of Africa from their ethnographic status by engaging artists from the diaspora and considering the role of digital media in creating access in the public domain. Her practice draws on anti-dystopian methodologies embedded in visual activism from the Global South and includes work on art collectives, community radio and podcasting. Her recent work in print and digital media includes a podcast series and programming related to newspaper archives and printing processes. She is currently Associate Curator Arts of Africa, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University.
Fellowship Project
Anti-Dystopian Possibilities of Podcasting: Trust and Solidarity in Art Collectives in the Global South and North
Following South Africa’s transition to democracy, ‘rainbowism’ presented a utopia for coexistence among the nation's culturally diverse people after the dystopia of apartheid when trust in the state was destroyed. This project will show that anti-dystopian activisms have long been enacted in art collectives, community radio and podcasting in the Global South and North. In this project I will research the rich histories of the Community Arts Project in Cape Town, and centres like the Embassy Cultural House in London, Ontario. The outcome will be developing a new podcast series about the anti-dystopian nature of art collectives and the role of trust in their pursuits. I also aim to publish two papers on anti-dystopian collective activisms and solidarities.