Analogue Africa: Essays Reassess Colonial Plunder and Anti-Colonial Art
Jeremy Harding's essay collection 'Analogue Africa: Notes on the Anti-Colonial Imagination' (Verso, 224pp, £19 hb, published March 2026) examines how artists and filmmakers have responded to European colonialism in Africa. The book, spanning over 20 years of Harding's writings (earliest from a 2001 London Review of Books issue), includes analyses of works by William Kentridge, John Akomfrah, Seydou Keïta, and Wifredo Lam, as well as commentary on Albert Camus and Michel Leiris. Harding addresses the presence of plundered African artifacts in Western museums, notably discussing the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, which he describes as having begun as 'a temple of racist kitsch' and has since undergone renovation and added contemporary Congolese art. He also highlights the visa barriers preventing Congolese researchers from accessing the museum's archives. The collection includes a postscript on Algerian author Kamel Daoud's rightward political shift, and mentions a lost documentary by Sarah Maldoror on Wifredo Lam. Harding argues that museums cannot be fully decolonized until artifacts are returned to their origins, leaving empty vitrines with explanatory cards. The book is reviewed by Tobias Carroll, author of 'Political Sign' (2020) and 'In the Sight' (2024).
Key facts
- Jeremy Harding's essay collection 'Analogue Africa: Notes on the Anti-Colonial Imagination' is published by Verso in March 2026, 224pp, £19 hardback.
- The collection spans essays written over more than 20 years, with the earliest appearing in a 2001 issue of the London Review of Books.
- Harding discusses artists including William Kentridge, John Akomfrah, Seydou Keïta, and Wifredo Lam.
- The book includes commentary on philosopher Albert Camus and ethnographer Michel Leiris.
- Harding criticizes the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, as originally 'a temple of racist kitsch'.
- The museum has undergone architectural renovation and added contemporary Congolese artists to its collection.
- Harding notes that Congolese researchers are barred from entering the EU by strict visa regimes, hindering their access to the museum's archives.
- Harding suggests museums can only be decolonized by returning artifacts to their origins, leaving empty vitrines with title cards.
- The book includes a postscript about Algerian author Kamel Daoud's rightward political shift.
- Sarah Maldoror's now-lost documentary about Wifredo Lam is mentioned.
- Review by Tobias Carroll, author of 'Political Sign' (2020) and 'In the Sight' (2024).
Entities
Artists
- Jeremy Harding
- William Kentridge
- John Akomfrah
- Seydou Keïta
- Wifredo Lam
- Sarah Maldoror
- Kamel Daoud
- Albert Camus
- Michel Leiris
- Tobias Carroll
Institutions
- Verso
- London Review of Books
- Royal Museum for Central Africa
Locations
- Tervuren
- Belgium
- Congo Free State
- South Africa
- Mali
- France
- Guadeloupe
- Algeria
- Cuba