Book Launch: Seloua Luste Boulbina - Les Miroirs vagabonds ou la décolonisation des savoirs
French-Algerian philosopher Seloua Luste Boulbina will be hosting the book launch of her latest work this coming Saturday (19/01) at the October gallery.
The aim of her new book Les Miroirs vagabonds ou la décolonisation des savoirs (art, littérature, philosophie) is to explore how knowledge and the arts can help overcome the colonial heritage, and to ponder on the decolonisation process in academia, intellectual and literary entreprises, as well as in the arts. To the author, it means reflecting on the places where those transformations occur and on the shape they take. It reveals a self-aware decision on the part of a variety of writers and artists to use the colonial experience as fuel for artworks.
The opposition between the metropolis and the overseas possessions and colonies has lost significance as global economic powers emerged. The clear categories prevailing in the colonical mind have been blurred, and new technologies and means of communication mean that the boundaries and frontiers are melting into a modern patchwork, who must be intellectually apprehended, and emotionally partaken in. Visual arts, music and literature allow for the faithful representation of the phenomena of cultural intermingling and exchanges between people and spaces.
The event will follow a tripartite organisation, including a reading by the author of a selection of texts and a presentation of the main topics in her book. It will conclude with a series of Q&A from the audience.
While Seloua Luste Boulbina is primarily a postcolonial scholar, familiar with the staple works of the field (Said, Fanon, Glissant), what makes her book truly compelling is her personal engagement with and keen interest in contemporary art, thanks to which she can offer a stimulating and original presentation on a topic of crucial relevance today.
An interpreter will be present for the comfort of English-speakers. Attendance is by reservation only at vicky.itt@gmail.com.
A well-known and respected figure in French academia, Seloua Luste Boulbina taught political theory at the prestigious Institut d'études politiques in Paris, before becoming the director of the programme "La décolonisation des savoirs" (The Decolonisation of Knowledge) hosted by the Collège International de Philosophie. She also taught in Beijing and Brasilia, before accepting her current position in Denis Diderot University (Paris).
Her best-known works include L’Afrique et ses fantômes (2015), Les Arabes peuvent-ils parler ? (2011) and Le Singe de Kafka et autres propos sur la colonie (2008).
She is also famous for her involvement with the contemporary art fair "Also Known As Africa", for which she hosted a series of workshops reflecting on the role subjective, contemporary art can play as a catalyst for expression in a postcolonial historical situation.
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