ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Afterall and MASP Host Two-Day Symposium on Art and Decolonization

institutional · 2026-04-22

The 'Art and Decolonization' symposium took place on May 20-21, 2023, at Central Saint Martins in London. This event was a collaboration between Afterall and the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP), supported by funding from the British Academy Newton Fellowship. Organized by Yaiza Hernández Velázquez and MRes Art: Exhibition Studies students, it featured a mix of screenings, lectures, and discussions. The first day kicked off with a screening of Rehad Desai's 'Everything Must Fall,' which highlighted South Africa's #FeesMustFall movement, followed by a Q&A with activist Shaeera Kalla. Notable talks included Prof. Nicholas Mirzoeff on colonial visuality and Prof. Gurminder Bhambra on university decolonization. The second day included a performance by FaceintheHole and presentations on MASP’s 'Afro-Atlantic Histories' program, aiming to boost audience diversity.

Key facts

  • Symposium held May 20-21, 2023 at Central Saint Martins, London.
  • Co-organized by Afterall and MASP, funded by British Academy Newton Fellowship.
  • Convened by Yaiza Hernández Velázquez and MRes Art: Exhibition Studies students.
  • Screened Rehad Desai's 'Everything Must Fall' about #FeesMustFall movement.
  • Prof. Nicholas Mirzoeff spoke on 'devisualizing' colonial visuality.
  • Prof. Gurminder Bhambra discussed decolonizing universities.
  • André Mesquita and Amanda Carneiro presented on MASP's 'Afro-Atlantic Histories' programme.
  • Lecture performance by FaceintheHole (Joanna Mamede and Ana Luiza Rodrigues).

Entities

Artists

  • Yaiza Hernández Velázquez
  • Cemile Zeynep Eryilmaz
  • Rehad Desai
  • Shaeera Kalla
  • Anita Israel
  • Maribelle Bierens
  • Nicholas Mirzoeff
  • Gurminder Bhambra
  • Manqiao Fang
  • Rahul Patel
  • Zina Monteiro
  • Abbas Zahedi
  • E. Okibi
  • Eva He
  • Lucy Panesar
  • Maureen Salmon
  • Murad Khan
  • Samboleap Tol
  • Shannon Bono
  • Sat Sehmbey
  • Gianina Ivodie
  • Joanna Mamede
  • Ana Luiza Rodrigues
  • André Mesquita
  • Amanda Carneiro
  • Wenchun Chen
  • David Dibosa
  • Mark Lewis
  • Isobel Whitelegg
  • Adam Habib
  • Carl Pope
  • Karen Pope

Institutions

  • Afterall
  • Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP)
  • British Academy
  • Central Saint Martins
  • University of the Arts London
  • Wits University
  • Institute for Decolonizing Art (IDeA)
  • University of Sussex
  • Afro Brazil Museum
  • Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
  • Ethnological Museum of Berlin
  • São Paulo Department of Culture
  • United Nations
  • Goldsmiths, University of London
  • Wimbledon College of Arts
  • University of Leicester
  • MACBA
  • CENDEAC
  • CAAM
  • Moderna Galerija
  • MNCARS
  • NAME Publications
  • New York Times
  • Guardian
  • Time
  • New Republic

Locations

  • London
  • United Kingdom
  • São Paulo
  • Brazil
  • South Africa
  • Barcelona
  • Murcia
  • Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  • Berlin
  • Germany
  • Miami
  • United States
  • Toronto
  • Canada
  • Paris
  • France
  • Eindhoven
  • Netherlands
  • Ljubljana
  • Slovenia

Sources