I soon will be history

“I Soon Will Be History” is a poetic visual autoethnography.

Created as part of my practice-based PhD research titled
Art, Activism, Aesthetics & AI: Black, British & Female.

This short film is both a personal visual archive and a methodological intervention within the field of digital humanities, using layered portraiture, digital collage, and time-based imagery to interrogate how Black British women document themselves in the face of historical erasure.

By placing myself as both subject and researcher, I explores themes of memory, visibility, and resistance. This piece is built using my original research frameworks — ADN™, MAETT™, and MMAT™—which puts neurodivergent creative processes and cultural self-archiving at the centre of this research.

It reflects a commitment to digital platforms as tools of self-preservation, offering a counter-narrative to dominant visual histories. The video stands as a creative artifact, asserting that in order to remain visible within history, we must actively archive ourselves.

Autoethnography | Digital Resistance | Visual Archive
UK Black Art Histories | #BlackFeministLens

ALT TEXT (Video):
A slow-moving, layered digital video art piece featuring fragmented portraits of a Black British woman. The imagery includes fading textures, torn overlays, and grid-like collages that obscure and reveal the face across different scenes. The transitions are soft and atmospheric, creating a dreamlike yet haunting tone. The visuals symbolise memory, erasure, resistance, and self-archiving. No spoken audio is present. The work reflects an autoethnographic practice, capturing the artist’s presence as both subject and archivist within her PhD research on identity, art, and technology.

Nkiru, J., 2017. Rebirth Is Necessary. [film] (Available at: https://www.jennnkiru.com)

Masumi, M., 2025. Anthro-Digital Narratives (ADN™) Framework. In: Art, Activism, Aesthetics, AI: Black, British & Female— A Practice-Based Intersectional Exploration of Identity (360). PhD thesis. Canterbury Christ Church University.

Masumi, M., 2025. Masumi Applied Ethnographic Tools and Theories (MAETT™): Ethnographic Research for Neurodivergent and Marginalised Communities. Unpublished doctoral research output. Canterbury Christ Church University.

Masumi, M., 2025. Masumi Methodology of Art and Technology (MMAT™): A Practice-Based Approach to Intersectional Digital Humanities. Unpublished doctoral research output. Canterbury Christ Church University.

My work directly engages with:

Autoethnography (Ellis, Adams & Bochner)—my lived experience as research material.

Black feminist visual theory (hooks, Tate, Fleetwood)—my art refuses objectification; it self-authors.

Digital humanities practice — the video is not just documentation but a digital artefact.

Post-memory (Marianne Hirsch)—I preserve what might otherwise be lost before it's even remembered.