African art history continues to be dominated by Western scholars who set the tone for the field. Their cultural frames of reference, which they cast as universal, exert influence on the interpretation of African art, social conditions, and cultural milieu. The knowledge produced in most institutions and academic or independent publishers outside of Africa communicates the extant system in place within those localities. In other words, the audience for such forms of knowledge production is not (necessarily) in Africa.

Contributions from Sabeth Buchmann, Burcu Dogramaci, Noit Banai and Sa’ed Atshan are accompanied by visual and literary material and references from Gal’s extensive research practice.

A discreet, yet unapologetic, feminist reading of the past and present with a particular focus on deconstructing inherited notions of identity and gender. It seeks to examine the impact these have had on contemporary relational modalities in order to find new capacities to dissect the resulting interpersonal dynamics. There is a wish to pause automatisms that suffocate the mind.