Living with Ghosts: Legacies of Colonialism and Fascism

L’Internationale Online launches its newest e-publication, Living with Ghosts: Legacies of Colonialism and Fascism, available online here, a constellation of essays, conversations and images that point to the manner in which the legacies of colonialism and fascism reverberate in our present conjuncture. The impulse for producing this issue was a question of whether it may be possible to trace the connections between the violences of the colonial project through the horrors of fascism to current forms of racism, identitarianism and populism—what we initially called ‘an arc’ of colonialism-nationalism-fascism. 

These shifts are palpable in the contemporary political uncertainties expressed in this collection of texts. Each of the contributors reflect on the specificities of their environment through their lived experiences, through their artistic practices, or reflections on the curatorial climate. They seek to maintain a space for critical engagement and political criticism. Furthermore, this issue considers the layers of historical conditions that inform states of ‘belonging’ and ‘sovereignty’ (even ‘citizenry’ as a debatable proposition) in Europe. What becomes evident from these various contributions is that there is no sudden or surprising development towards the right—too often expressed an ‘inexplicable phenomena’ of contemporary society. They instead address it as a slow and steady movement based on historical events and political terms of reference which have remain unresolved and have again returned, this time through the opportunism advanced and fuelled by the structures of capitalism that connect Europe to Russia and America. Each is a case study that recognises the patterns of violence and inequality evident in the political structures of colonialism and fascism. 

Contributors include: Gurminder K Bhambra, Walter Famler, Quinsy Gario, Nkule Mabaso, Rex Edmunds and Elizabeth A. Povinelli, Kuba Szreder, Jelena Vesic and Gloria Wekker.

In conjuction to the launch of Living with Ghosts: Legacies of Colonialism and Fascism L’Internationale Online hosts a limited online screening of the film The Riot by Karrabing Film Collective October 3–November 3 and a newly commissioned performance how to prepare for a hurricane pt. 2 by Quinsy Gario which premiered on October 3 in Gothenburg, to be screened online from November 4.

Another L’Internationale member has currently a program focusing on anti-fascist struggles from the perspective of art and cultural institutions. Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw presents the exhibition Never Again: Art Against War and Fascism in 20th and 21st Centuries, August 30–November 17, 2019 with an international conference on October 24 and an international summit Internationalism after the end of globalization, October 25–26.

The members of the editorial board are:Nick Aikens, Farah Aksoy, Rose Borthwick, Sara Buraya, Meagan Down, Nav Haq, Ida Hirsenfelder, Pablo Martinez, Jyoti Mistry, Corina Oprea, Mabel Tapia.

Editors of Living with ghosts: Legacies of Colonialism and Fascism: Nick Aikens, Jyoti Mistry, Corina Oprea

Contact: Corina Oprea, Managing Editor L’Internationale Online, corina.oprea [​at​] internationaleonline.org

L’Internationale Online is the platform for research, resources and art, launched in 2014 by the museum confederation L’Internationale and currently managed by Valand Art Academy, operating within the framework of the four-year programme Our Many Europes.

The confederation consists of seven modern and contemporary art institutions Moderna Galerija (Ljubljana, Slovenia); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid, Spain); Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA, Barcelona, Spain); Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen (M HKA, Antwerp, Belgium); SALT (Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey), Museum of Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland and Van Abbemuseum (VAM, Eindhoven, the Netherlands). L’Internationale is working together with complementary partners such as Valand Art Academy in Gothenburg, Sweden and College of Art and Design in Dublin, Ireland.