Art from the Global South

Some interesting ideas came out of the study day dedicated to the art from the Global South, which my colleague Dr. Piola Massarotto and myself organized some weeks ago at Richmond, the American University in London, where we both teach Art and Visual Culture (March 17^th, 2026)

In addition to revealing the complex interactions between all spheres of the art world globally, the conversations between our three speakers Dr. Giuliana Bora (Newcastle University), Chris Spring (former BM curator of African art), now artist in his own right), October Gallery curator Eleri Fanshawe, and our students and participants generated much buzz about an often neglected area of study in art departments across the country.

Students were exposed to African, Indigenous South American and other artistic traditions that find themselves in an in -between position across fields such as folk, ethnic, tourist, and contemporary arts. The never resolved issue of where these arts belong is still plaguing critics art historians, and equally so anthropologists, whose work in these areas straddles frequently conflicting interests and fields of operation.

It is hoped that, with the mounting interest in Indigenous contemporary arts, and global modernisms, the ongoing debate will produce new arguments and collaborations between previously unrelated areas of expertise and across cultural differences.