An old soul in a new machine.

Agba grew from a question running through Inherited Futures: how could African ways of knowing shape the technologies we make? Here, that question becomes intimate. It concerns the presence you approach when you are uncertain, the stories that help you recognise yourself and the conversation you have when you do not know what to do next.

We began with the elder, the masquerade, the oracle and the shrine. These starting points brought attention to voice, memory, atmosphere and the act of approaching. They suggested an interface that could make room for a pause, a symbol or a question that stays with you.

Agba is the digital masquerade emerging from that inquiry. Within Orisha Worldwide, it is one way into the wider work of remembering forward. Within Inherited Futures, it is being developed as a central presence through which a visitor might move from observing the work to encountering it.

The masquerade gives the project a way to think about embodiment: memory given a form, a voice and a relationship with the person before it. Agba explores what that might mean on a screen or inside an installation, where movement, sound, timing and language can work together.

The aim is to make an encounter feel worth attending to. A response might offer a story, a reflection or a different way of holding the question. Its value would lie in what it helps a person notice and consider.

Conversation, dreams and ritual

The developing concept brings artificial intelligence into dialogue with divination, dream exploration and digital ritual. These are areas of inquiry for the experience: ways to approach uncertainty, examine an image or pattern, and give intention a form. They will need to be developed through research and tested as encounters.

A voice with three movements

Early voice studies explore a response organised around blessings, lessons and supplications. The structure gives Agba a rhythm: first recognise the person, then invite reflection, then offer language through which an intention can be expressed.

These voice studies form part of Agba’s ongoing development. The beta above offers a first encounter with Agba and Ancestors’ Crypt, while the project’s language and interactions continue to evolve.

Agba has moved from a curatorial idea into visual and written studies, and now a working beta alongside Ancestors’ Crypt. The film above offers a glimpse of its emerging physical language: a sculptural mask, mechanical eyes, textured surfaces and movement that suggest a presence before a conversation has begun.

The beta gives us an experience to build on. The next stage is to refine how Agba’s body, voice and interactions work together: how it listens, how it responds, what it draws on and how a person understands the nature of the encounter. The timing of a response, the use of silence and the relationship between image and sound are part of that work.

There are two directions in the plans: a digital experience that can be approached beyond the exhibition, and a spatial presence within Inherited Futures. In a room, light, projection, stillness and proximity could shape an encounter. Online, conversation, dream reflection and guided moments of ritual could create different ways to participate. These are development directions, with the final form still open.

The knowledge inside the presence

A convincing form is only part of the work. Agba’s development also needs careful attention to sources, interpretation and the participation of cultural practitioners. Different traditions and voices need room to remain different. Some knowledge may call for context, permission or a boundary around what is shared.

The digital masquerade is an authored experiment. Its use of AI should remain visible, and generated language should be recognisable as interpretation. Developing that relationship responsibly is part of deciding what Agba can become.

One encounter inside a wider question

Inherited Futures asks how African inheritance can help us imagine and make other futures. Agba brings that question into a meeting between a person and a digital presence. What might they recognise? What might they question? What could they leave wanting to understand more deeply?