Darren Le Baron is an educatorspecialising in mycology and psychedelic research, and is based between the UK and the Caribbean. He co-curates part of the invited speaker programme at Breaking Convention, focusing on a pan-african perspective. Darren is a knowledgeable and dynamic speaker who is passionate about sharing his research and findings on ethnomycology, ancient African plant medicines and their various applications.

Collectively his work aims to inform and empower individuals from diverse backgrounds to cope with social challenges and contribute to community development as well as self-improvement in an innovative, creative, culturally-aware style.

New Discoveries in Ancient Lands? The Untold Story of Psychedelics in Southern Africa

Fresh from his recent travels to the Motherland, Darren Le Baron returns to BC to present the untold story of psychedelics in Southern Africa. Throughout history, Africa's indigenous and first nation peoples have utilised psychedelics as a technology for ancestral communion, healing and spiritual growth—yet western scholars largely overlook these practices. This presentation uncovers Africa's rich and ancient psychedelic history through a Southern African lens. In the beginning was the San Bushmen—humanity's first foragers and hunter-gatherers—who, like the biblical Adam and Eve, discovered their own "forbidden fruit": the oldest known psilocybin mushrooms, found in what is still called the Garden province in South Africa today. After spending three months immersed within the San Bushmen, Zulu, Lesotho, and Himba communities, Darren will be sharing evidence preserved in rock art, encoded in mythology, and manifested in ongoing ceremonial rites centred around these powerful psychoactive plants and fungi. This presentation explores the plethora of psychoactive compounds found and used in Southern Africa, revealing their deep influence on regional language, art, music, and symbolism. Combining cultural wisdom with academic research, this session sheds light on the origins and living traditions of humanity's oldest societies.