Post-Africanism and contemporary art in South African townships

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the possibilities offered by Post-Africanism – a new perspective coined by Denis Ekpo and proposed as an alternative to postcolonialism. He defines Post-Africanism as an attempt „to seek newer, fresher conditions for a more performative African intellectual engagement with Africa, modernity and the West‟ (Ekpo 2010:182). In this paper I use the Post-Africanist approach to reconsider contemporary art produced in South African townships. In line with Ekpo‟s deconstruction of Africanism I investigate parallel notions identifiable in selected works. By diagnosing certain characteristics as symptoms of Africanism and realising their crippling effects, it is possible to suggest a way forward in the form of Post-Africanism. Ekpo postulates that, if artists are no longer weighed down by the historical burdens of the past (i.e. decolonisation), they become enabled to promote Africa‟s new cultural health by embracing all of modernity‟s cultural resources.