In doing so , Palestinian and Arab cultures may be able to venture on a post-post-colonial exploration of self and collective identities . In this sense , and through such reading , ( Afro ) futurism can offer diasporic cultures a way to deconstruct and reconstruct history in a manner that infiltrates territorial and mental borders .
It is not too astonishing , then , to find a small online proposal in artist Sulaiman Majali ’ s Towards Arabfuturism / s Manifesto , published in
Notions of belonging are constantly challenged … there is no homogenous culture or identity … The use of “ - futurism ” here is not intended to reference Futurism as movement , neither is it an explicit reference to the “ futuristic ”. Instead “ -futurism ” is anticipating a future , it signifies a defiant cultural break , a projection forward into what is , beyond ongoing eurocentric , hegemonic narratives … these ideas can contribute to a growing counterculture of thought and action that through time will be found and used in the construction of alternative states of becoming .
While this may be a first utterance of Arabfuturism , unproclaimed Arab futuristic expressions have been increasingly surfacing in recent years .
In a tedious online search for glimmers of Arabfuturism , leading to distant corners of the Internet , an unusual image pops out . Helmet ( 2016 ) by Lebanese artist Ayman Baalbaki is an unsettling but beautifully mesmerising artifact from an indiscernible past / present / future . The impeccable design of Arabic calligraphy , engraved on hard-crafted metal , conjures themes that relate to Islam , militarism , and even astro-science . The mixing of the ancient with the futuristic makes any possible representations automatically paradoxical .
Furthermore , interest in Arabfuturism seems to be picking up through a number of conferences , art exhibitions , and various discussions on Arab sci-fi in literature , film and other forms of expression – whether in the West or in the Arab world . A slightly off-the-subject but rather amusing example is this alternative history project , titled The Life of the Wandering Sufi Al-Hajj Vladimir Lenin . Even sci-fi B movies are beginning to appear :