Hello all,
I write having just returned from the sixth biennial Afroeuropeans conference, held this year in Tampere, Finland. This was my first time attending this conference series, and I am already looking forward to attending the next, whenever and wherever it takes place. The range of material presented, the diversity of national contexts and theoretical concepts, are still making my head spin a bit–but in a good way! While I would normally focus a post on what we’ve done on the site, I feel it important to draw your attention to some of the projects that I was fortunate enough to encounter there.
Check out Sasha Huber’s important work drawing attention to the Swiss-American anthropologist Louis Aggasiz, whose contribution to nineteenth-century racist thought is not widely known today, even in those streets and landmarks named after him. Her Shooting series consists of portraits done with staples in wood, engaging with the legacies of historical trauma.
And check out Here and Black (auf deutsch), a Freiburg-based series of events and installations working to illuminate black experiences locally as well as across Germany and Europe.
If you’re in Amsterdam, take some time to visit The Black Archives, a local archive and library that has a wealth of materials revealing the history of black people in the Netherlands as well as their connections to broader diasporic politics.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t draw your attention to Breaking Ground, a project of the Speaking Volumes agency working to promote the work of artists of colour in the UK. They brought Roger Robinson, Zena Edwards, Vanessa Kisuule, Yomi Sode, and Solomon OB to take part in the conference and also to show us their work as part of Tampere’s Fest Afrika. These are writers you need to know about.
That’s just a sample of the work that was on display at the conference. Stay tuned for more posts on what we’ve been doing on the website, and, as always, let us know what you think about our work at [email protected].
Happy surfing,
Jeff
Black Central Europe 