About

Presentation of the book  Novo Mundo – Arte Contemporânea no Tempo da Pós-Memória (2021) by Dino D' Santiago and Margarida Calafate Ribeiro.

This is a book about works and artists who practice different artistic languages and genres - from cinema to music, from visual arts to theatre, dance and photography. They have memories in common that were passed on to them by their parents and grandparents of African origin, memories that are disseminated and appropriated according to each one and that, today, constitute part of the material of their work. For this reason they are called artists in the condition of post-memory. They currently encompass two generations of artists who play a leading role in much of what is pertinent, daring, expressive and critical in contemporary European arts.

By the nature of their work, these artists are bearers of a present that is as innovative as it is urgent, and their transnational and transterritorial presence carries with it a combative energy in the face of the legacies of colonialism and racism, as well as clamouring for the urgent need to decolonise the canons and for the need to rewrite the histories of Africa and Europe, and not only the History of Art.

About the Author

António Pinto Ribeiro holds a degree in Philosophy (1980, UCL), a master's degree in Communication Sciences (1995, UNL), PhD in Culture Studies (2015, UCL). He taught at several Portuguese and Foreign Universities. He was artistic director and responsible curator at several Portuguese cultural institutions, including Culturgest and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation. He was general commissioner of "Past and Present - Lisbon Ibero-American Capital of Culture 2017". His main research interests are developed in the field of contemporary art, specifically African and South American. Of his sixteen book it is important to highlight "Africa the four rivers - The representation of Africa through european and North American travel literature" (2017), Peut-on décolonizer les musées? (2019). As editor highlights: "The urgency of Theory" (2007), "Lessons, I and II" (2008), "The Desire to Live in Common" (2018).