The Subterranean Imprint Archive is a research project that envisions a counter-archive of technopolitics and nuclearity on the African continent. It examines Africa’s role in the development of the first atomic bombs through the Shinkolobwe mine in the former Belgian Congo, the source of the uranium used for its development. Together with Congolese researcher Joe-Yves Salankang Sa-Ngol, Lo-Def Film Factory engaged with central and southern African archives to unearth contested histories of mineral extraction, uneven distribution, and e-waste. The work brings together first-hand testimonials, lectures, and found audio to build a multi-vocal portrait of the relationship between a historical moment, its actors and locations, and the present.

The work was produced during the What Stays – Archiving Care residency, a year-long project in cooperation with transmediale festival, the JUNGE AKADEMIE of the Academy of Arts, and the Goethe-Institut Slovakia. In partnership with the Goethe-Institut South Africa.

Lo-Def Film Factory is based in South Africa and their work involves archival research, dramaturgy, and visual strategies associated with video art, collage, sculptural installation and virtual reality, to create space for collaborative, experimental community storytelling. Lo-Def Film Factory was founded by artist duo Francois Knoetze and Amy Louise Wilson. Francois is a sculptor, performance, and video artist who creates narrative portraits of the uncertainty within the nervous system of a global digital machine on the brink of collapse. Amy is a writer and performer interested in traditional South African theatre practices as a methodology for research and experimentation. The duo work with digital technologies in a DIY practice that embraces making mistakes.

Joe-Yves Salankang Sa-Ngol is a ​researcher, historian, and representative of the Congolese Civil Society of South Africa.