Uniting Art and Academia: The Festival of Afro-European Arts, Performance & Scholarship
13 June 2024
We came together to celebrate Black cultural production and critical inquiry over a two-day festival in Bloomsbury.
![Film Panel](/european-institute/sites/european_institute/files/styles/large_image/public/screenshot_2024-06-13_at_12.43.08.png?itok=tN0H_jdc)
This month the UCL European Institute and the SOAS Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies hosted the Festival of Afro-European Arts, Performance and Scholarship, celebrating Black cultural production and critical inquiry. In a series of venues across UCL, SOAS and beyond, the festival showcased artistic expression and academic discussion with students, staff and the wider public.Ìý
One event explored embodiment through dance, chaired by Dr. Hélène Neveu-Kringelbach, featuring and a performance by , they explored questions of how choreographic practice can shed light on Black, African or Afro-European identities in Europe. Seke showcased extracts from his work , and Funmi performed her work The Blind Side – ‘a solo piece of movement theatre in which I play a teller of folktales struggling to tell a folktale’. Ìý
![EMBODIMENT](/european-institute/sites/european_institute/files/styles/medium_image/public/img_3849_0.jpg?itok=x_uZdXaT)
![Helen McDonald](/european-institute/sites/european_institute/files/styles/medium_image/public/img_3851.jpg?itok=VZkH583v)
![Mary Evans](/european-institute/sites/european_institute/files/styles/medium_image/public/img_3850.jpg?itok=OKmBI_Fo)
![Leaving Eurafrica](/european-institute/sites/european_institute/files/styles/medium_image/public/img_3848.jpg?itok=_b0t55tz)
![Black History Walk](/european-institute/sites/european_institute/files/styles/medium_image/public/img_3847.jpg?itok=xGkoKjN1)
I have thoroughly enjoyed the spaces created during the festival, where the usual barriers came down and artists, members of the public, UCL students and staff came together to reflect on histories of racialisation in different European contexts, be inspired by the power of the arts to ask provocative questions, and to think about different forms of collaboration. This was a fitting end to a fantastic series of talks this year, and it has been heartening to see so many wonderfully engaged audiences.
Academic Lead, Dr. Jeff Bowersox said:Ìý
We couldn’t have asked for a better range of perspectives on the relationships between ideas of Europe and ideas of Blackness.ÌýThe series has really put paid to any idea that either concept (Blackness or Europe) has a fixed or stable meaning, opening up diverse possibilities for challenging exclusionary modes of thought. It’s been so exciting to see a critical mass growing over the course of the year, as staff and students have been drawn from all parts of the university and beyond. We are very excited to see the series feeding into the festival and to take this momentum into the next academic year.Ìý
To stay up to date with the [Black Europe] workstream for the academic year 2024 – 2025, please visit this page. We are always looking to receive feedback and suggestions for future events, if you have any ideas, don’t hesitate to be in touch with a member of the team.Ìý
Additional Links:Ìý