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CANCELLED: HESCAH Lecture – Afro-Atlantic, Neo-Romantic: Reflections on Rotimi Fani-Kayode
April 16, 2020 @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Free*This event has been cancelled.*
Kobena Mercer, Professor of History of Art & African American Studies at Yale University, will give the final presentation of the Spring 2020 lecture series “Art’s Inclusive Histories: In Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage.”
Nigeria-British artist Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989) created his entire oeuvre in the six years between his 1983 return to the UK after studying in New York and his HIV-related death in London 1989. How should be best understand the timeless nature of his photographs, which are as freshly challenging today as they were over thirty years ago? Taking into account Fani-Kayode’s writings and those of his life-partner, Alex Hirst, this lecture explores the different understanding of temporality in ‘classical’ and ‘romantic’ traditions as a background to weighing up which concept fits best for understanding Fani-Kayode’s commitment to cross-cultural aesthetics–is it hybridity, syncretism or transculturation?
Reception to Follow.