ARTMargins Special Issue Examines African Socialism in Contemporary Art Through Historical Amnesia

A special issue of ARTMargins explores how contemporary African artists engage with the continent's socialist histories after 1945, confronting widespread forgetting of Africa's radical intellectual and political roles. These creators work with poorly documented themes, limited historical records, and cautious oral sources, amplifying neglected pasts while questioning the political conditions of historical research in global contemporary art. The neoliberal framework shaping much contemporary art often prevents critical engagement with socialist history, as analyzed in the publication. Artworks discussed complicate fixed narratives, erasures, and nostalgic views of Africa's socialist era, attempting to reorganize present-day perspectives that typically ignore history beyond romanticization. Mozambican photographer Filipe Branquinho's 2014 work Talho serves as a case study, raising core questions about how artists today address Africa's socialist past. The introductory essay and special issue were published on February 1, 2024, in ARTMargins Volume 13, Issue 1, pages 3-17, with the article available through MIT Press under subscription access. The analysis highlights the challenges artists face in responding to historical amnesia about Africa's protagonism in radical movements.