European Centre for Art, Culture and Science

Friday December 12 2008 / Citizenship

24th Globalization Lecture with Okwui Enwezor: World art

How long will we continue to regard non-Western art as ethnographic? Isn't globalisation the best guarantee for Western culture to survive now that economic and political power is shifting to the South and East?

Okwui Enwezor, Nigerian curator and promoter of African art and photography par excellence, will speak about the cultural aspect of reverse globalisation. In his exhibitions, Enwezor endeavours to show new images to the Western world with its pessimistic view of Africa  and to convince the West that artists from Africa, Asia and Latin America have been participating for a long time by now in the international world of art. Our Western view is clouded by the continuous flow of images of distress, poverty and misery. With the success of Barack Obama in mind, Enwezor will speak about the situation of artists with African roots in relation to their background. How is their work judged and understood? How will they play in the game of globalisation?

After the lecture there will be a discussion moderated by Michaël Zeeman. Before the lecture the documentary The black market. About popularity of African artists and African arts (VPRO/Bonanza, 2001) will be shown. 

Start documentary: 19.00 hrs
Start lecture and debate: 20.30 hrs

Watch the video registration of the lecture online.

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