our relations remember how we treat them 
we waste away
justice is a conscious choice 
Cause, I am, still Black see
Cause, I am, still Indigenous see
relational possibilities

Introduction to The Creative CoLab LEAD Project

As the seminal collaboration between The Creative CoLab, “Relational Possibilities” is a digital community archive data science project that explores community relations and futurist realities of Indigeneity and Blackness through artists, writers, and public art in Philadelphia. “Relational Possibilities” pulls together original datasets, generative artificial intelligence imagery, itch.io video games, a podcast, vignettes, and curatorial statements into two distinct, interconnected virtual museums. Through a lens of community, visitors experience the shared history of African Americans in Philadelphia through 7 Black visual and literary artists and the stories of climate racism, Indigeneity, and climate change that public art and environmental histories tell. 

Aesthetic Indigenous Forms

The Post Colonial Dreams Museum is a digital museum that explores community in the contexts of climate racism, Indigeneity, and climate change through Philadelphia’s Black public art, generative AI images, and environmental histories. The virtual museum is organized into seven temporal realities - seven chapters to align with the idea of seven cardinal directions (east, west, north, south, up, down, you at the center). Each chapter is a retelling of the lived aftermath and speculative future imaginations of the Black and Indigenous experience beyond the settler colonial state in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Kindred Blackness 

The Kindred Blackness Museum project is an imaginative virtual space that showcases the archival practices of African American artists from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The artists from this community, both visual and literary, represent their strong connection to their city and their proud legacy. Leading the curation is the bold Alain LeRoy Locke, a philosopher, writer, and Harlem Renaissance community architect. With a focus on cultural pluralism, the museum presents three exhibitions that unveil the intricate details and hidden treasures found in the artists' paintings and lyrical expressions, transforming information into art. Additionally, the museum features a community art map and research that explains the project's methodology and curatorial statement. The Kindred Blackness Museum Project features an educational interactive function through AI, including text mining, information as art, and web archiving. The museum aims to archive and provide access to an educational platform that encourages the African American community to preserve its history through data, stories, and information in a myriad of forms using creative technology. Overall, the Kindred Blackness Museum is a valuable resource for anyone interested in African American art, literature, data, and space.