Contemporary artists respond to Paul Gilroy’s concept of the Black Atlantic

A groundswell of complex events around the globe have made discussion surrounding the Western, Eurocentric, often prejudiced notion of Blackness even more relevant and controversial in recent years. Social conflicts in Western societies have brought the idea of a global, polyphonic Black culture–the Black Atlantic –to the fore. The term was coined in 1993 by British sociologist Paul Gilroy, in his book The Black Atlantic: Modernity and Double-Consciousness, now considered a definitive text on the culture and politics of the African diaspora in the Western world.

Through the work of four artists–Sandra Mujinga, Paulo Nazareth, Tschabalala Self and Kemang Wa Lehulere–this publication addresses the complexity of identity, ambivalence around questions of visibility and transparency, and the repression of history in education.