The Subterranean Imprint Archive is a co-created research project made by South African artist duo the Lo-Def Film Factory in collaboration with researchers, artists and thinkers.

It examines Africa’s role in an historical event that changed the future of humanity: the nuclear bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima, and Nagasaki in 1945. The uranium used to make these bombs was extracted from Shinkolobwe mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The central role played by the DRC, along with exploitative mining and its consequences for local populations, have been largely hidden from official histories of the bomb. By extending their research to South Africa, the Lo-Def Film Factory shows that, from the 19th century onwards, exploitation and mapping of the subsoil became increasingly intensive as new, more efficient methods of extraction developed.

This website was produced while in residence. What Stays – Archiving Care is a year-long project in cooperation with transmediale festival, The JUNGE AKADEMIE of the Academy of Arts, and the Goethe-Institut Slovakia