Keeping up with Kassandra writer’s note

A devastated planet…

Multiple pandemics…

Mourning and grief as it transpires that everything counts for nothing if we can’t keep the world turning…

Kassandra can see it all in the future. But she is grappling with her own trauma as well as collective trauma stemming from misogynoir.

How relevant is foresight anyway, when nobody can accept that the current state of affairs is dire? Or see that Kassandra’s very life is in the balance?

The original Kassandra, from Homer’s Iliad and Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, is a Trojan princess who, having been given the ability to prophesy by the god Apollo, is subsequently cursed by him to never be believed in her predictions when she decides not to entertain his sexual desires. She foresees the fall of Troy but is disbelieved. When it does happen, she is captured and killed. This is why today, we use the term ‘Cassandra’ to refer to anyone whose prophecies of doom are unheeded (Collins English Dictionary).

Keeping up with Kassandra synthesises much of the information we have around the climate crisis in 2021, as the boundaries of the term must be examined when research and data is channelled through the truth-teller that is Nigerian royal turned reality TV star, Princess Kassandra of Lagos state. In this case, climate crisis must not only refer to coastlines clogged with plastic and harmful C02 emissions, but to race relations, mental health and to our relationship with the news.

Funlola Olufunwa

Keeping up with Kassandra was performed live online in June 2021