How African Art Conquered the Contemporary: A Review of 'La materia dei sogni'

The article 'La materia dei sogni. Quando l’arte africana conquistò il contemporaneo' reviews a recent shift in the Western art world's reception of African art. For over a century, the West admired African art only on the condition that it was not contemporary, preferring it to be ancient, tribal, ritual, and anonymous, fitting into ethnographic museum categories that lumped together Dogon masks, Luba sculptures, and Fang reliquaries without questioning the civilizations that produced them. Europe recognized these forms' right to influence Picasso, Matisse, Modigliani, and its own avant-gardes, but was much less willing to recognize Africans' right to change themselves by becoming modern and contemporary artists with names, biographies, and individual research. Recently, something has finally changed. The last Venice Biennales, from those curated by Cecilia Alemani and Christine Macel to Adriano Pedrosa's 'Stranieri Ovunque' (Foreigners Everywhere), and including this year's edition, have signaled a transformation. The article, published on artuu.it, explores this evolution, likely discussing how African artists are now gaining recognition in the contemporary art world, with exhibitions and critical attention that acknowledge their individual practices and contributions. The piece appears to be an opinion-review, reflecting on the historical context and the recent curatorial shifts that have brought African contemporary art to the forefront.