The two day conference “Rethinking Cosmopolitanism: Africa in Europe | Europe in Africa” will revisit the intersection of modernity and decolonization.

Decolonization has led to the rise of a new international order, which in turn continues to challenge and ex- pose the insufficiency of classic concepts and definitions of modernity, culture, art and politics. Focusing on the reconfiguration of these concepts within the notion of cosmopolitanism, the conference will consi- der the consequences of the historical, cultural, and artistic entanglement of Africa and Europe.

The conference will revisit mid-Twentieth century de- bates through this prism of cosmopolitanism, invoking its potential as a notion that implies the possibilities of mutual co-existence and living with difference. Cosmopolitanism is conceived here to indicate the need for members of any community to imagine entities other than their own locales or national boundaries that will be more inclusive on a global scale.

Hence, cosmopolitanism is perceived as a metaphor for mobility, migrancy, and co-existence with difference, in opposition to parochialism, xenophobia, fixity, and limited notions of sovereignty. In that sense, the focus will be on the anti-hegemonic and anti-homogenizing potential of cosmopolitanism, in opposition to power as it has been associated with western imperial tendencies, transnational capital, and its corollary neoliberal economic policies. Cosmopolitanism is also perceived as a pursuit of peace through developing a strong sense of ethics and moral obligation towards other human beings everywhere.

An important focus of the conference will be the practice of artists who can no longer be classified and located either inside or outside the ‘west,’ or as occupying an in-between space. In that sense, the confe- rence seeks to establish a platform for knowledge production to fill in the glaring gaps in understanding the cultural and political dynamics of a world in motion, and to focus on unearthing the root causes and consequences of new migrations in Africa and Europe.

Finally, in re-conceptualizing cosmopolitanism, as articulated above, even the apparently adequate conceptual ideas of ‘European,’ ‘Western’ or ‘African’ art may no longer be helpful. Perhaps these terms need to be dismissed, in order to open up a space of debate. This conference will consider more adequate definitions of current art practices and their respective ways of envisaging and defining their relationship to distinct, but unevenly connected worlds.