The climate crisis, the covid pandemic and the currently unfolding AI revolution have brought to the foreground the need for a more holistic and open conversation about the future of our societies. By the end of the century, Africa is projected to become home to nearly half of the world’s population. This demographic change will not only reshape the global geopolitical order but also place Africa at the heart of the world’s trajectory. While this transformation presents a wealth of new opportunities, it also poses unprecedented challenges.

For centuries, Africans across the diaspora have dreamed of the Pan-African Renaissance. Envisioned by generations of political leaders, activists, scholars, and artists, the concept encapsulates a fervent aspiration for a new era of restoration, through which the continent would overcome the structural legacy of slavery and colonization to construct a revitalized, thriving and self-determined civilization rooted in its ancestral philosophical paradigm.

Considering the words of the great Pan-Africanist leader Thomas Sankara: “Everything that we can imagine, we can create“, what is the vision of the global African diaspora for the future? 

Starting in March 2024, polymath artist and futurist Pierre-Christophe Gam will launch the Global Mapping of Dreams (GMD) — a two-years-long, ritual based, art and prospective investigation that will engage the global African diaspora in the radical imagination of the Pan-African renaissance. The GMD will utilise TOGUNA World’s framework to catalyse and facilitate an ambitious transcontinental conversation on Black futures.

Conceptualised during Pierre-Christophe Gam’s fellowship at the MIT Open Documentary Lab and his artist residency at the Penn Center for Inclusive Innovation and Technology (UPENN), the GMD will bring together a diverse collective of visionary dreamers, thinkers, and doers from various disciplines, including art, design, technology, science, agriculture, and religion. Through a series of immersive collective dreaming exercises, these participants will embark on a journey of shared imagination, shaping a vision for the future of Africa.

In collaboration with the Penn Center for Inclusive Innovation and Technology (PCIIT), the collective visions and aspirations gathered through the GMD will undergo rigorous analysis. Led by Pierre-Christophe Gam and researchers from Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2), this meticulous examination will uncover profound and invaluable insights into society’s priorities and aspirations, providing a blueprint for crafting initiatives that address real-world community needs for more inclusive and sustainable futures.

The findings will be disseminated on Togunaworld.com, enriched with insightful essays, engaging podcast discussions, bespoke art, and films designed to ignite inspiration and provoke thought, encouraging a new generation of dreamers towards positive action.

The GMD stands as a groundbreaking installation that merges art, spirituality, and foresight. This visionary project bridges the realms of art, technology, and academic research, fostering active engagement among communities across the African diaspora in the radical imagination of the future. Serving as an innovative Think/Dream tank, it provides an inclusive and expansive platform for profound cross-cultural discourse on the Pan-African Renaissance. The GMD is firmly rooted in the belief that only by transcending the boundaries of our present reality and embracing the boundless potential of our imagination can we create a world where justice, equity and shared prosperity prevail.

Welcome to the Future –