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Afro-Gothic

The Afro-Gothic, as defined by scholar Kobena Mercer, is an aesthetic means of coping with the trauma of colonial slave history. Combining the African diaspora imaginary with the European literary genre, the term describes both beauty and terror, sex and violence, a “slave sublime” haunted by figures like the ghost or zombie, which has its origins in Haitian folklore. They function as “allegor[ies] of black life under colonialism,” and are particularly resonant in the context of PÒTOPRENS: The Urban Artists of Port-au-Prince. A former slave colony, Haiti established itself as the only nation-state in the world led by non-whites and former slaves after the Haitian Revolution. For the panel “Afro-Gothic,” co-curator Leah Gordon will be joined by Donald Cosentino, Jean Eddy Saint Paul, and Gina Athena Ulysse to discuss the ways in which colonial history, hauntings and Vodou, and accumulated excess and assemblage manifest as an Afro-Gothic aesthetic in Haitian contemporary art.











When: Sat., Oct. 27, 2018 at 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Where: Pioneer Works
159 Pioneer St., Red Hook, Brooklyn
718-596-3001
Price: Free with RSVP
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The Afro-Gothic, as defined by scholar Kobena Mercer, is an aesthetic means of coping with the trauma of colonial slave history. Combining the African diaspora imaginary with the European literary genre, the term describes both beauty and terror, sex and violence, a “slave sublime” haunted by figures like the ghost or zombie, which has its origins in Haitian folklore. They function as “allegor[ies] of black life under colonialism,” and are particularly resonant in the context of PÒTOPRENS: The Urban Artists of Port-au-Prince. A former slave colony, Haiti established itself as the only nation-state in the world led by non-whites and former slaves after the Haitian Revolution. For the panel “Afro-Gothic,” co-curator Leah Gordon will be joined by Donald Cosentino, Jean Eddy Saint Paul, and Gina Athena Ulysse to discuss the ways in which colonial history, hauntings and Vodou, and accumulated excess and assemblage manifest as an Afro-Gothic aesthetic in Haitian contemporary art.

Buy tickets/get more info now