HFO: An Occasional Podcast takes its name from ‘Hailing Frequencies Open’, the title of Sonya’s ongoing body of work, and a phrase associated with the character Nyota Uhura of the original Star Trek series, played by actress Nichelle Nichols. Sonya utilises this phrase in her work as a way of recognising Nicols’ contribution to Space travel through her work with NASA, and as an enduring science fiction icon. HFO proposes an expansive universe of multiple possible futures. In this new occasional podcast series, Sonya will speak to invited guests from art, culture and beyond about the role that the speculative – in its most expansive and radical sense – plays in their lives.

In this pilot episode, released as part of her residency, Sonya speaks to poet, curator, and artist An Duplan – author of the recent book of essays, Blackspace: On the Poetics of an Afrofuture (2020). This warm and rich transatlantic conversation traverses the subjects of Blackness as the universal, the possibilities of the terms Black Futurity and Afrofuturism, generational and geographical preferences and histories of terms of identification, their own experiences and evolving strategies in navigating the art and academic worlds as Black practitioners, and finally the books, music, films and artists that inspire and influence their thinking.

This residency project forms part of Delfina Foundation’s science technology society programme, in partnership with Gaia Art Foundation.

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