Memory is the living thread between past and future, and at the heart of Dreaming With The Archives, a multi-city art project by the nonprofit Kinfolk Tech now showcased at Brooklyn Bridge Park through August 30. The exhibit asks participants to experience history in a public space through Augmented Reality to discover digital landmarks, engage with immersive stories and join a growing movement to preserve the untold stories of communities.
Dreaming With The Archives is an art installation where viewers use an app to experience digital monuments created by artists Olalekan Jeyifous, Hank Willis Thomas, Ari Melenciano, Kiyan Williams, Wangechi Mutu and Jeremiah Ojo. Each artist created site-specific artworks to honor the abundant flora, fauna, agriculture, skilled laborers — enslaved and free — and the sounds that make up the rich cultural history and ecology of Brooklyn and the African diaspora.
Visitors can download the Kinfolk App and discover the AR installations on their own, or follow a volunteer docent for a free walking tour.
It's a memorable art exhibition that came with a set of hurdles. Idris Brewster, the co-founder and executive director of Kinfolk Tech, said one of the challenges was figuring out how to make people aware that an AR monument was nearby.
"It is difficult to get people to download an app on site and experience the monuments, especially when folks are just walking by," he told BK Reader. "We solved this by adding two signs: a vertical sign on the fences and then a vinyl sign on the floor. We also created walking tours every Tuesday and Sunday, which creates direct ways for people to engage with our exhibition."
Brewster, whose parents are filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, said he has embraced AR as a vehicle to tell a narrative.
His parents produced the documentary Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (HB0), which was the inspiration for There Goes Nikki, an AR ode to the late poet that premiered at the Tribeca Immersive 2025.
Dreaming With The Archives also brings community-based programming to locations across Brooklyn. Recently, Ojo explored the history of Black food spaces in Brooklyn at the Flatbush Central Market, highlighting how they serve as gathering places, centers of creativity and hubs of community connection.
Participants shared memories of local food businesses through reflection, dialogue, mapping and collaging, while also envisioning what future spaces can look like.
On Aug. 5 at the Center For Brooklyn History, Ojo will present his research findings on Johnny Joe’s Oyster House, a popular Black-owned establishment in the 1800s founded by Johnny Joe and his wife, Louisa Britton.
To honor the legacies of oyster shucking on National Oyster Day, Ojo will talk about the roots of Black foodways and food entrepreneurship in Brooklyn. The celebration will feature Dominique Jean-Louis (Center for Brooklyn History), Ben “Moody” Harney (The Real Mother Shuckers) and Tonya Hopkins (The Food Griot).
