Paper short abstract:

I address decoloniality in the ecological turn in contemporary art and how it can contribute to African Studies. Using the example of the recent Response-ability project (Johannesburg, 2021), I explore art's potential as an activating force, instead of being merely illustrative of current theory.

Paper long abstract:

This paper addresses issues of decoloniality in the ecological turn in contemporary art and how it can contribute to African Studies. Sacks uses examples of artworks and discussions from the recent project Response-ability (2020-1) to consider how issues of race are intertwined with the devastation of the ecology. As a large-scale collaboration between visual artists, researchers and growers that took place in an inner city community garden of Johannesburg on the site of a former colonial greenhouse, Response-ability provides a lens to consider the extent to which visual art interventions can function beyond their symbolic capacity. The aim is to explore what visual art projects can bring to African Studies as an activating force of change, instead of merely illustrating existing theories and arguments.