Our Story

UBUNTU! Decolonial Arts Centre—founded by d’bi.young anitafrika—is a holistic gathering space towards the embodiment of Ubuntu, the African philosophy from which it takes its name. Ubuntu is a Zulu/Xhosa word meaning I am because you/we are. Home to the Anitafrika Method, a trauma-aware decolonial praxis cultivated by d’bi.young, the centre aims to create a space where arts practitioners can engage with critical questions about the purpose of our work, as well as our individual and collective roles in society.

Art, in this context, serves as a powerful tool for liberation, healing, and challenging oppressive systems. Through the creative process of the method, practitioners explore identities, hxrstories, experiences, the humxn condition and in doing so, foster a deeper innerstanding of the interconnectedness of all living beings. By engaging in the Anitafrika Method, practitioners harness the transformative power of art to decolonise our personhood, practice, and pedagogy.

At the centre, the artistic journey is intrinsically linked to a broader mission: to rupture colonial matrices of power and promote a more just, equitable, and sustainable world. As practitioners gather from around the globe for our foundation courses online, our arts residencies in person, and our Ubuntu! Fest & Symposium—to engage with these questions and embody Ubuntu—we contribute to a growing movement that seeks to create spaces for healing, dialogue, and collective action.

The centre believes that art is not only an expression of individual creativity but also a powerful force for social change. By fostering a community of artists committed to exploring and embodying Ubuntu, the Decolonial Arts Centre catalyses transformation for all.

OUR PROJECTS

Ubuntu! Decolonial Arts Centre:

a) hosts year-round individual and cohort arts residencies in decolonial practice

b) convenes international foundation courses online

c) facilitates the Decolonial Frameworks Program to create new praxes for social change

d) hosts the Ubuntu! Fest & Symposium, a decolonial arts gathering online

The Anitafrika Method is an intersectional decolonial trauma-informed Black Queer Feminist framework, performance praxis, and pedagogy of transformation, originated by d'bi.young anitafrika. Inspired by the foundational dub poetry theory of their mother—pioneer dub poet Anita Stewart, the integrative creative praxis is used to support the growth and development of people, including artists, educators, healers, innovators, leaders and everyday practitioners of living. Using arts-based interventions to nurture self-transformation, creative expression & community embodiment in its practitioners, the method is practitioner-centred and critically reflexive. The nine fundamental principles that ground the method include Self-Knowledge, Orality, Language, Politics, Rhythm, Urgency, Sacredness, Integrity and Experience which are explored through the Physical, Emotional, Mental, Creative, Exchange, Spiritual, Community, Energy, and Earth Bodies.