Description
Book SynopsisAn examination of visual art in post-independence Senegal. It explores the complex interplay of cultural nationalism, negotiations of postcolonial identity, and an emergent artistic modernism. Highlighting the distinctive cultural history that shaped Sengalese modernism, it reveals its innovations, diversity, and dynamism.
Trade Review“Over the last three decades the study of modern and contemporary African art has moved inexorably into the mainstream of art history where it rightfully belongs. Elizabeth Harney’s scintillating study of modernism, modernity, the avant-garde, and the African imagination not only contributes to but enlarges the discursive and historiographic borders of the ‘new art history.’ Her detailed and beautifully written work provides a guiding insight into the centrality of Negritude in any history of modernism. This book is an invaluable resource for all those interested in African art history and its contributions to the history of the modernist avant-garde.”—Okwui Enwezor, Artistic Director of Documenta 11 and publisher and founder of
Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art“There is no book on any contemporary African art that even comes close to the richness and sophistication of this text.”—Christopher Steiner, author of
African Art in TransitTable of ContentsList of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xvii
Preface xxi
Introduction 1
1. Rhythm as the Architecture of Being: Reflections on un me Nègre 19
2. The École de Dakar: Pan-Africanism in Paint and Textile 49
3. Laboratories of Avant-Gardism 105
4. After the Avant-Garde 149
5. Passport to the Global Art World 217
Notes 243
Bibliography 289
Index 313
