IN THE WORLD

An inclusive exercise in cultural analysis, this book deals with the gravitas and folly of identity politics, the boom of so-called African art, and the fetish and fascination with a global Esperanto. Designed to provoke thought and feeling, it is hoped that this collection of essays on South African art will reach a wide audience. The book’s strength lies in its diversity of focus and cultural frameworks. It offers no defining system or divining rod. Rather, it is hoped that this book will provide a healthy contribution to an already thriving debate regarding the value and purpose of contemporary art, the on-going significance of the decolonising project, and the importance of art from Africa in the global pantheon.
Key Selling Points
• The selection of artists goes against the canon, is contemporary and diverse, predominantly young.
• The artists’ works vary greatly, spanning painting, photography, sculpture and performance.
Ashraf Jamal is a writer and teacher. He has written numerous papers and monographs on South African art, as well as written and directed plays. He is the author of Predicaments of Culture in South Africa (Unisa / Brill), the co-author of Art in South Africa: the Future-Present (David Philip Publishers), and the co-editor of Indian Ocean Studies: Social, Cultural, and Political Perspectives (Routledge). He co-authored 100 Good Ideas: Celebrating 20 years of Democracy. He was shortlisted for the MNET Prize for his novel about the Cape Town art scene, Love Themes for the Wilderness (Kwela / Random House). He won the Sanlam Prize for the title story of his collection of short fiction, The Shades (Brevitas). Jamal is the former editor of ARTsouthAFRICA, the current editor of ARTAFRICA and has taught in the fields of world literature, postcoloniality, media studies, and visual culture at the Universities of Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Natal, Rhodes, Malaya (Malaysia), and Eastern Mediterranean (N. Cyprus) He currently lectures in Film & Media Studies at Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). He lives in Observatory, Cape Town.