Creative Ecosystems: A Space Dedicated to Collective Black Imagination

Annika Hansteen-Izora has designed a new space for communal creation. Image courtesy of Annika Hansteen-Izora.

Black culture has played a huge part in shaping internet culture as we know it. Now, Creative Ecosystems is collecting many of these online sources of Black art and imagination in one place. 

New York-based writer, designer, and artist Annika Hansteen-Izora started Creative Ecosystems as a public spreadsheet, shared amongst Black creative community. With the support of Athletics, Annika took Creative Ecosystem to the next level, transforming it into a visually stimulating, yet streamlined immersive online platform. 

Rather than follow the typical UX of an online directory, Athletics and Annika envisioned Creative Ecosystems as a “digital garden” in which Black creative resources, spaces, and inspiration are ever-growing. It’s a platform specifically built to help Black artists and creators connect and grow as they absorb the historical and contemporary work of their peers.

“As this digital garden grows, maybe there are some other offerings to grow out of that,” says Allison Connell, Design Director at Athletics, which built Creative Ecosystems. “One opportunity is for all these people to connect in real life.” 

The platform currently features 30 creators including Black Feast,Party Noire, and The Black School, each reflecting a different type of creative work and energy. Annika anticipates the digital garden growing and expanding as more ecosystems are added to the directory. Here, Annika shares how Creative Ecosystems came to be, the thinking behind the “digital garden” and why this is a space for communal—rather than individual—creation.

Profiles of the different groups on Creative Ecosystems. Image: Courtesy of Athletics.

How did Creative Ecosystems come to be?

This began during the uprisings of 2020 when I saw my artistic and creative friends rightfully critiquing larger industries and larger structures that were a part of creating art spaces that weren't actually serving the communities that they said they were serving.

I saw a lot of folks talking about—rather than being invited to—tables that were never meant for Black artists. So we began to invest our energy in building our own tables and creating our own collectives where Black thought and imagination were at the forefront. I focused on communal creation rather than individual creation because I'm interested in how folks can grow together. I wanted this to live as a space online dedicated to collective Black imagination.

What’s your objective for it?

The main goal is for this to be a map for other Black artists and creatives and ecosystems to reach one another. So having it grow as large as possible in terms of locations and varieties of art. I'm interested in having this be something that people can take for their own research and growth. Another goal is for this to be a space that people can look to to find places to support and invest in that are directly contributing to the growth of Black creativity.

These broadsheets feature the people and the work on Creative Ecosystems. Image: Courtesy of Athletics.

Why a “digital garden”?

A digital garden is a framework for imagining the internet through the lens of a garden. Rather than this clean, concise space, imagine it in the realm of a garden that makes room for mess, that makes room for growth, that makes room for many different hands coming together to allow something to grow. When I frame Creative Ecosystems in the space of a digital garden, it's meant to underscore the space is strengthened by many different ideas.

Tell us about some of the people on it.

One is Activation Residency, a Black, trans-led creative retreat that focuses on offering people of color respite, and centers on healing for body, mind, and spirit. Another is As They Lay, a Baltimore-based collective that focuses on Black futures. Another is Black Feasts, a culinary arts event that creates meals and artwork based off of Black artists and writers.

Creative Ecosystems has 30 profiles and growing. Image: Courtesy of Athletics.

How do we open up our creative community to more people from all walks of life?

One is investing in Black and in queer leadership in design spaces and thinking about what that investment actually means for your space.How are studios investing in design education for people in marginalized communities that are outside of the traditional narratives?

I'm a self-taught designer and I didn't know of design as a career until way after I graduated. Are those hiring designers only looking at designers that went to school? If so, you need to invest time in spaces that you're not actually looking at today.

If you’d like to read more from The Creative Factor—such as Morten Bonde’s story about reinventing himself as a LEGO Art Director while losing his sight or Edése Doret: Inside the Mind-Boggling World of Private Jet Design—sign up for our newsletter.