Iyapo Repository (Salome Asega + Ayodamola Tanimowo Okunseinde) is a resource library that houses a collection of digital and physical artifacts created to affirm and project the future of people of African descent. The collection is managed and developed through a series of workshops where participants become archivists of a future they envision. The resource library holds workshops in which participants sketch out and rapid-prototype future artifacts in domains such as food, music, politics, and fashion. These sketches constitute a collection of manuscripts. The Repository then works to bring a select few of these artifacts to life. They become technologically functional while staying true to the participants’ original blueprints. Alongside the art and artifacts collection, Iyapo Repository also hosts manuscripts, films, and rare books.
Salome Asega is an artist and researcher based in Brooklyn, NY. Salome has participated in residencies and fellowships with Eyebeam, New Museum, The Laundromat Project, and Recess. She has exhibited at the Shanghai Biennale, MoMA, Carnegie Library, August Wilson Center, Knockdown Center, and more. She has also given presentations and lectures at Performa, EYEO, Brooklyn Museum, MIT Media Lab, NYU, and more. Salome is currently a Ford Foundation Technology Fellow landscaping new media artist and organization networks. She sits on the boards of National Performance Network and POWRPLNT, a youth digital art collaboratory. Salome received her MFA from Parsons at The New School in Design and Technology where she teaches classes on speculative design and participatory design methodologies.
Ayodamola Okunseinde is a Nigerian-American artist, cultural anthropologist, educator, and time-traveler living and working in New York. His works range from painting and speculative design to physically interactive works, wearable technology, and explorations of “Reclamation”. He has exhibited and presented at the 11th Shanghai Biennale, Tribeca Storyscapes, EYEO Festival, Brooklyn Museum, M.I.T. Beyond the Cradle, and Afrotectopia amongst others. Okunseinde holds an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design where he serves as Assistant Professor of Interaction and Media Design.