RSVP

In this lecture, Dr. Elvira Dyangani Ose, the 2024 Visiting Professor in Catalan Studies and director of the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), will explore the evolving dynamics of anti-colonial practice in Barcelona through the lens of "Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica," an international exhibition she is co-curating with Antawan I. Byrd, Adom Getachew, and Matthew S. Witkovsky. The lecture will position "Project a Black Planet" not just as a temporary exhibition but as a transformative space for resistance and for reimagining anti-racist activism in relation to Barcelona’s legacy of colonialism and involvement in the transatlantic slave trade.

Drawing on the insights of theorist Iván de la Núez, Dr. Dyangani Ose will discuss how Barcelona’s diverse diasporic communities have spearheaded a decade-long push for greater inclusion and cultural transformation. She will highlight how MACBA (Museum of Contemporary Art of Barcelona) engages with these conversations through exhibitions, public programs, and research aimed at supporting activist practices and community projects that address complex and violent histories.

A key theme will be the debates on the restitution of plundered cultural heritage and efforts to decolonize Spanish museums. Dr. Dyangani Ose will also consider the limitations of these discussions, advocating for a deeper historical approach that confronts the structural inequalities within institutions today. She will propose a vision in which art and culture serve as platforms for shared memory and collective agency, uniting the past, present, and future in the pursuit of a more just society.

Dr. Dyangani Ose will be joined by respondent Dr. Anna Arabindan-Kesson, Associate Professor, Art and Archaeology and African American Studies, Princeton University.

Mr. Isidre Sala i Queralt, Head of the Delegation of the Government of Catalonia to the United States of America & Canada, will offer opening remarks.

To attend this event virtually, please click this webinar registration link.