Afro-Asian Solidarities in Arts and Culture II: Revolutionary Third Worldism in Writing and Dance
4 - Afro-Asian Solidarity in Three Acts
Thursday, June 12, 2025
14:00 - 15:45 GMT
Location: LAB-01
Presenter(s)
DC
Delinda J. Collier
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, United States
Presentation Abstract My paper explores the concept of solidarity among African and Asian nations, in three distinct projects that span both continents. Despite their radical differences, these projects engage in discourses focused on decentering the West and mutual support to reclaim self-determination. I will show how they rely on themes of absence and presence to invoke that solidarity. The first case I discuss is the Agostinho Neto Mausoleum in Luanda, Angola, which was initiated with Soviet assistance in 1982, halted in 1988, and restarted in 2005 with support from North Korean Mansudae Art Studios. Initially conceived as a memorial for Angola's first independent president, the project’s completion by Mansudae reflects the shortcomings of the original endeavor; the final result is an awkward blend of African and North Korean socialist realist figuration. The second examines Chinese backing for the Museum of African Civilization in Dakar, which was finalized in 2018 with a $30m grant and construction aid, having been envisioned thirty years earlier by first independent president Léopold Sédar Senghor. In this instance, Chinese investment fills a void, paving the way for repatriation, restoration, and development. Lastly, I analyze Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s film The Specter of Ancestors Becoming (2019), an anti-monumental reflection on solidarity. The film recounts the history of Senegalese soldiers conscripted to fight for France during WWII in Vietnam and the families that emerged from that experience. My paper investigates the various expressions of “you” and “we” within these projects, particularly focusing on the implied and absent bodies represented in each.
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