Reclaiming Africa

Art as a Tool for Decolonization

Abstract

In recent years, scholars have increasingly looked at the damages done to African art in a colonial context. The historian Victor Onibere contextualized that the Scramble for Africa “distorted the perception of African cultures and identities, impacting both traditional and broader African artistic expressions”, and
“challenged traditional African artists’ artistic autonomy” (Onibere 88). African artists have experienced incredible limitations to work within their own cultural frame, which led to a movement that started to use art as a tool for decolonization. The place of visual representations in the continued effort to decolonize spaces in Africa is of essence for it addresses decolonization frameworks that can be overlooked but are nonetheless effective. The term Decolonization is used to refer to “the process of addressing and dismantling that history and its effect in the present and future” (Becker 4). It is also a response to the dilemma of what can be done by artists in Africa or the diaspora to contribute to the effort through  innovative approaches. By arguing that art can be an effective means to continue the long process of decolonizing Africa, this paper examines three ways in which art can be an effective tool against colonization; its ability to change narratives, art as a method of advocacy and using Afrofuturism in the artistic sphere. [...]