Contemporary African Art (World of Art)

A revised and updated edition of this seminal title, surveying the diverse, ever-evolving field of contemporary African art from the 1950s to now.

Contemporary African art has grown out of the diverse histories and cultural heritage of the African continent and its diaspora. It is not characterized by any particular style, technique or theme, but by a bricolage-like attitude towards art-making, incorporating and building upon the structures from which older, precolonial and colonial genres were made.

In this revised and updated edition of Contemporary African Art, Sidney Littlefield Kasfir examines the major themes, developments and accomplishments in African art of the 20th and 21st centuries. Organized thematically, the book includes newchapters on the history of African photography and the growth of the global art market, alongside significant discussions of patronage and mediation, artistic training and national and diaspora identities.

'‘An engaging, cogent, and thought-provoking book’'
African Arts

Contents List

1. New Genres: Inventing African Popular Culture • 2. From Africans Photographed to African Photographers • 3. Transforming the Workshop • 4. Patrons and Mediators 5. Art and Commodity • 6. The African Artist: Shifting Identities in the Postcolonial World • 7. The Idea of a National Culture: Decolonizing African Art • 8. Migration and Displacement • 9. The Global Contemporary Art World and Africa

About the Author

Sidney Littlefield Kasfir is Professor Emerita in the Faculty of Art History at Emory University and has taught, curated and researched widely in Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and the USA.