Decoding Egwu by Emmanuel Ndefo & Dan Xu
A S+T+ARTS Afropean Intelligence Residency.
Challenge “Intercultural AI: Weaving Worlds through Art and Algorithms”
Host institution
Gallery of Code, Abuja (NG)
European partner
GLUON, Brussels (BE)
Decoding Egwu is a cross-disciplinary project that reimagines dance and intelligence through the Igbo concept of egwu — a word encompassing dance, music, play, and awe. Where Western frameworks treat dance a product of individual human genius, egwu proposes something broader: a philosophy of collaboration, and ancestral memory in which all forces (human, material, sonic, and spiritual) are understood as active participants in a shared rhythm.
The project unfolds in two outputs. The first output is an ethical, multimodal dataset centred on egwu, assembled from 55–60 Igbo proverbs sourced from digital archives, literary works, songs, and oral accounts shared by Igbo cultural experts and practitioners. This corpus treats language as both a manifestation and a vehicle of cultural intelligence, forming the foundation for an open-source interactive digital archive and tool that presents dimensions of egwu through language, sound, and visual expression.
The second output is a physical installation featuring custom-developed motorised systems in which a masquerade, an ekwe (wooden drums), and a pair of ogene (metal gongs) are activated and respond to one another and to the presence of the audiences. The installation gives tangible form to the project’s central proposition: that dance and artificial intelligence are not autonomous entities, but relational forces that emerge through interaction. The resulting choreographic and sonic interactions are shaped by the continuous negotiation between human, ancestral, material, and technological forces.
The artists
Emmanuel Ndefo
Emmanuel Ndefo (Nigeria) is a performance artist, researcher, and choreographer whose work explores the body as both medium and interface. Using the metaphor of “hacking,” he investigates movement as a way of engaging contemporary social, cultural, and technological questions. Rooted in dance, performance and installation, his practice combines dance research with African ritual traditions and urban movement forms such as hip-hop, krump, and house, creating works that connect embodied heritage with experimental, physical and digital forms.
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Want to dive deeper?
Listen to the associated S+T+ARTS Afropean Intelligence Voices [“Embodied Ancestral Knowledge: The Body as a Sensitive Data].
& Dan Xu
Dan Xu (China) is a researcher, creative technologist and artist with a background spanning physics, computer science and interactive art. Her practice explores the expressive and poetic possibilities of computational media. She is particularly interested in how agency, communication and meaning emerge through interactions between humans and technological systems.
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Emmanuel and Dan started collaborating as a duo since 2025.
& Check-out the other selected projects for the Afropean Intelligence Residency Program:
+ Challenge 1: Intercultural AI: Weaving Worlds through Art and Algorithms | “Untangler: Worlds Reimagined” – Peace Olatunji
+ Challenge 3: Plural Computation | “The Affogbolo’s Home” – Pierre-Christophe Gam
+ Challenge 4: Psychogeography and the Influence of AI | “Bursting the last bubble” – Tamer Elshabrawy
+ Challenge 5: Archives & Memory | “Adorned memory: Reimagining Egyptian Indigenous Archives Through Jewellery” – Khanya Mthethwa
+ Challenge 6: ZaZi: An African Educational AI Model | “LORAS AS AN ARCHIVE – A LIVING ARCHIVE” – Evans Akanyijuka
+ Challenge 7: Beyond Borders: AI, Climate, and Resource Justice in Africa | “Cry To The Water” – Chipo Mapondera
+ Challenge 8: Digital Lukasa: An Intelligent Archival Tablet | “The Memory Performer: digital reincarnation of Luba wisdom” – Mahoutondji Kinmagbo
+ Challenge 9: Provenance and Social Memory | “TERRITOIRE TISSé: Art Royal Kuba entre tradition et (R)évolution” – Melisa Kayowa
+ Challenge 10: Futurism and Geolocation | “Mobility as Memory: a decolonial AI cartography of Kinshasa” – Chinedum Muotto
+ Afropean Intelligence is bringing together 11 cultural organizations across Africa and Europe:
