Dauntless-usen/Palava-Protocol

Palava Protocol — Dreaming New Worlds 2026 (Node 2) A distributed governance generative art system that encodes three indigenous African governance traditions as live software protocols. Community participants from Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso submit words that drive a real-time generative network. # PALAVA PROTOCOL **Distributed governance generative art network** Dreaming New Worlds 2026 · Goethe-Institut · Node 2: Building Distributed Networks --- ## What It Is Palava Protocol encodes three indigenous African governance systems as literal software rules that drive a real-time generative art network. Community members from Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso participate by submitting words. Their participation — governed by three distinct cultural protocols — generates a living visual network in real time. The art cannot exist without collective participation. The network cannot function without cultural rules. The system makes visible what was always already there. --- ## Running Locally ### Prerequisites - Node.js 18+ - npm 9+ - A Supabase project (optional — the app runs in demo mode without it) ### Setup ```bash # 1. Clone git clone cd palava-protocol # 2. Install client dependencies cd client && npm install && cd .. # 3. Install server dependencies cd server && npm install && cd .. # 4. Configure environment (optional — skip for demo mode) cp client/.env.example client/.env cp server/.env.example server/.env # Edit both .env files with your Supabase credentials # 5. Start the server (terminal 1) cd server && npm run dev # 6. Start the client (terminal 2) cd client && npm run dev # 7. Open localhost ``` ### Demo Mode (no Supabase) If no `.env` files are configured, the app runs entirely in demo mode: - Canvas shows 10 mock participant nodes (4 Nigerian, 3 Ethiopian, 3 Burkinabé) - All protocol rules evaluate and animate against mock data - Participation form submissions return a fake participant - Archive and snapshots are disabled This is sufficient for exhibition and testing without any backend. --- ## Architecture ``` palava-protocol/ ├── client/ React + Vite + TypeScript frontend │ └── src/ │ ├── components/ │ │ ├── Canvas/ p5.js generative canvas │ │ ├── Protocols/ Three gove …