Aesthetics of Articulation

Art and social space are not conceivable one without another. Nevertheless, only little research has so far addressed this relationship of creative and social practice and its political and aesthetic implications in urban Africa and its global entanglement. Often, art is conceived either as apolitical practice of beautification and decoration in times of peace or as deeply political in times of unrest and oppression. This applies particularly to African settings that tend to be perceived as sites of crisis while evading the attention of mostly Western-centric art theory. It is therefore of particular importance to understand artistic articulation as a social and creative practice that operates also beyond moments of political and conflictual emergency. In what ways does art articulate social and political imagination, and how does artistic practice relate to such social and collective visions? How does articulation work and in what ways is it generative of visual, oral and performative aesthetics? We have addressed these questions in highly diverse cities in East and West Africa that have experienced different levels of political conflict and forms of cultural activity in the last years. The presented three essays are reflective not only of different traditions and cultures of artistic, political and social expression, but also of the fascinating range of methodological approaches to the topic that social anthropology has on offer for both, the actual process of the study and the presentation of its results. Beyond being empirical studies of aesthetic and political articulation, the three essays also speak to theories of articulation. They embrace politics, aesthetics, and not least the formation of social urban space.