GALLERIA BORGHESE AFRICAN CULTURES AND DECOLONIZATION
Wednesday, July 16, 6:00 pm
Galleria Borghese
A conversation with Iain Chambers, Igiaba Scego, and Andrea Viliani
A dialogue aimed at exploring the cultural and historical dynamics of decolonization through the lens of contemporary art. Starting from the work of Wangechi Mutu, the conversation will highlight the role of African cultures in redefining the global imaginary, examining colonial legacies and the processes of identity rewriting that traverse artistic languages, memories, and visions of the future.
Iain Chambers has consistently developed interdisciplinary and intercultural work in the field of contemporary culture at the University of Naples, L’Orientale. He has pursued this line of research through a series of critical, postcolonial analyses of the formation of the modern Mediterranean, with publications including Le molte voci del Mediterraneo (2007), Mediterraneo Blues (2020), and Da Lampedusa a Gaza (forthcoming). With Marta Cariello, he co-authored La questione mediterranea (2019). In 2022, he was a member of the collective “Jimmie Durham & A Stick in the Forest by the Side of the Road,” which participated in Documenta Fifteen. He regularly writes for Il Manifesto.
Igiaba Scego was born in Rome in 1974 after her family was forced to leave Mogadishu following Siad Barre’s coup. She earned a degree in foreign literatures at La Sapienza University in Rome and a PhD in education sciences at Roma Tre University. She contributes to La Stampa and Internazionale. Her books include: Pecore nere, co-written with Gabriella Kuruvilla, Laila Wadia, and Ingy Mubiayi (2005); Quando nasci è una roulette. Giovani figli di emigrati si raccontano (with Ingy Mubiayi, 2007); Oltre Babilonia (2008); La mia casa è dove sono (2010, Mondello Prize 2011); Roma negata (with Rino Bianchi, 2014); La linea del colore (2020, Naples Prize); Figli dello stesso cielo (2021); Cassandra a Mogadiscio (2023); and the two-volume anthology Africana. Raccontare il continente al di là degli stereotipi, co-edited with Chiara Piaggio (2021). Her works have been translated into many languages.
Andrea Viliani is the Director of the Museum of Civilizations (MUCIV) in Rome. An art historian, he previously served as Head and Curator of the Research Center at the Castello di Rivoli, and as General and Artistic Director of the Donnaregina Foundation for Contemporary Arts/MADRE Museum in Naples (2013–2019), where he curated and organized major international exhibitions. From 2009 to 2012, he was Director of the Galleria Civica Foundation–Research Center on Contemporary Art in Trento.
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