Over the last centuries narratives in art and history have been dominated by a euro-centric – largely white, cis, male and wealthy – perspective. Generations after generations across the globe have been raised with stories that offer a very limited display of events and perspectives, and the education system as such has proven to be a harmful influence at times. During this evening we’ll talk with various artists that resist the euro-centric male-dominated historiography and dedicate their practices to the re-telling and re-structuring of history by honouring people that have, for too long, been ignored. Furthermore we will discuss how they are (re-)imagining possible futures, inspired by the very worldviews that European imperialism tried to exterminate.
Background information speakers
Oumar Mbengue Atakosso is an established artist from Dakar, Senegal, based in the Netherlands, who has created exhibitions and multiple art projects and lectures around the world. With controversial exhibitions such as Lost & Found and Museum of Im/migration, he explores the position of the ‘post-modern immigrant’, and what an individual, traveling through space and time has to lose or gain in his/her encounter with the destination, in this case, an encounter with the ‘West’. In 2019 he became executive director of Africa in the Picture (AITP).
Emma-Lee Amponsah holds Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies, a Master of Arts in Gender and Diversity Studies, and a PhD in Communication Sciences. Her work focuses on the role of media in shaping and negotiating collective identities and cultural memory among Black people in Belgium and Europe. She is also a founding member of the Belgo-Dutch grass-roots media platform Black Speaks Back (BsB), for which she produces and coordinates content that aims to counter the unidimensional depiction of Black Life and narrative in the Low Countries. As a creative producer and researcher she uses subversive methodologies that challenge hegemonic, Eurocentric and individualistic forms of knowledge and art production.
Jennifer Tosch, is a cultural historian, founder of Black Heritage Tours in Amsterdam (Netherlands), and New York State; co-author of 3 guide books on Dutch colonial history: Amsterdam (2014), New York (2017) and the Netherlands (2019); co-founder of Sites of Memory Foundation (2019) and a member of the Mapping Slavery Project Nederland (2014). Jennifer was born in Brooklyn, New York to Surinamese parents. Jennifer founded the Black Heritage Tour in Amsterdam in 2013 and in 2017 the Black Heritage Tour in New York State. The tours make the ‘hidden history visible’ as you explore the cities’ early Black presence and colonial history.
Musoke Nalwoga (1994) was born and raised in Uganda. She is currently working in Amsterdam as a cultural practitioner and researcher with a focus on contemporary art. Musoke is the founding director of Motormond Amsterdam, a new art gallery which aims to give a much-needed update to the idea of the ‘white cube’. Musoke has contributed to the curatorial programs of OSCAM, Metro 54, Fashion For Good Museum, Framer Framed, Sonsbeeck 20 -24, The Cobra Museum of Modern Art, and ParkHuis De Zwijger. She is currently offering; Making The Overground Underground, an intercarricular program at Sandberg Institute. She has also taken on a guest lecturing position at university of Amsterdam as part of the masters program Art and Performance Studies.
