The Ties that Bind: Waves of Pan-Africanism in Contemporary Art and Society
ITP Alumna Marilyn Nance is included in this exhibition at the University of Chicago.
Returns
October 13-19, 2017
Logan Center Exhibitions presents an extensive multiyear research project and public program that explores past and present notions of Pan-Africanism in contemporary art and society. The Ties that Bind: Waves of Pan-Africanism in Contemporary Art and Society seeks to be a platform for critical discourse and art production, and engages a multigenerational and international group of interlocutors across three public forums taking place over the next two years in Chicago.
Returns, the first convening, slated for October 13 through 19, 2017, addresses the following question: What does it mean to return—to a cultural history, to a movement, and to the site of Africa in developing an artistic language?
Returns considers the aesthetic and sociopolitical ramifications of Pan-Africanist movements of the early to mid-20th century, which sought to garner connectedness and solidarity among Africans on the continent and those of African descent living internationally. Returns features conversations that unpack the different meanings and uses of the term Pan-Africanism across the diaspora, looking to the ideas spearheaded by prominent scholars such as Marcus Garvey, W.E.B. Du Bois, Aime Cesaire, Kwame Nkrumah, and Leopold Senghor. With a particular focus on activities in Chicago, Returns also explores trends of Afrocentrism in artistic practices and social movements in the city from the 1960s into the 1970s, alongside reflections on the global Pan-African festivals of the era including FESTAC ‘77.
Returns evolves in two chapters. The first chapter takes place on October 13 through 15, 2017 with the participation of scholar Dr. Abdul Alkalimat, scholar Romi Crawford, author and educator Haki R. Madhubuti, scholar Dominique Malaquais, artist and writer Naeem Mohaiemen, photographer Marilyn Nance, and filmmaker Floyd Webb. The second chapter features a public roundtable discussion with post-colonial theorist Françoise Vergès on October 19, 2017.
The Ties that Bind: Waves of Pan-Africanism in Contemporary Art and Society is presented by Logan Center Exhibitions and is made possible by the generous support of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the VIA Art Fund. Additional support for Returns is provided by the France Chicago Center.