Black is King: A Dialogue on the History and Art of Black Aesthetics and Globalization

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About

Part of Culture Days, a Canadian arts and culture festival, this multi-institutional seminar intends to discuss Black aesthetics and globalization in its historical and artistic perspectives. It invites a limited number of selected multidisciplinary scholars, art producers and artists researching and developing creative work on fields related to Popular Culture, Diasporas studies, Music, Afrofuturism, African History, Art History, Education, Media and Critical Race and Gender studies. Using an online platform, the participants will engage in a dialogue about the historical and artistic contributions featured in the visual album "Black is King" (2020) by Beyoncé. The discussion will be taken in multidisciplinary directions as scholars examine different intersectionalities and key concepts such as diasporas, colonialism, empire, Blackness, capitalism and transnationalism.

Links

• Registration link us02web.zoom.us

Organizer

Bruno Rafael Véras, Dr. Francesca D'Amico-Cuthbert, Geneviève François-Kermode

Bruno R. Véras is a digital historian and cultural producer whose work focuses on Global Africa, historical slavery and art-education. He directed awarded educational projects in the Global South and coordinated in British Library Endangered Archives Projects and training workshops. He is the director of the Public History initiative Project Baquaqua and General Coordinator for the SHADD_hub. His work as a UNESCO consultant for Africa-Brazilian history resulted in museum and art exhibits. He is a documentary filmmaker working on art and performances in Brazil, Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria, Canada and Egypt.

// Dr. Francesca D'Amico-Cuthbert is the 2020-2021 Community-Engaged Early Career Fellow at the Jackman Humanities Institute at the University of Toronto. Dr. D’Amico-Cuthbert’s research explores the history of American and Canadian Black popular music, the creative industries and the music marketplace with expertise in Rap music and Hip-Hop culture. Currently, Dr. D’Amico-Cuthbert also serves on the Education Committee of the Universal Museum of Hip Hop – which is dedicated to the preservation of Hip Hop’s history and is set to open in 2024 in the Bronx, New York City.

// Geneviève François-Kermode is an undergraduate student at York University in Gender and Women's Studies and Black Canadian Studies. She is also currently working at the Harriet Tubman Institute. As an activist, she has worked in many NGOs and participated in grassroots movements in Toronto. Her areas of interest are anti-racism and intersectionality, with a current focus on afrofuturism and Black radical love.