Peripheral contexts of artistic creativity: the Angolan case

Abstract

After describing and discussing the conditions of artistic production in peripheral contexts, the course of the Angolan visual arts from the end of the colonial period to the present time is analysed, a period when these enjoy a relative international projection. This projection is the result of a double sustainability: on the one hand, the material conditions for creation and artistic production and, on the other hand, the sustainability or maintenance of an aesthetic pattern rooted in the tradition and history of the country. Contextos periféricos de criação artística: o caso angolanoResumo Depois de se descrever e discutir as condições de produção artística em contextos periféricos, analisa-se o percurso das artes plásticas angolanas desde finais do período colonial até à atualidade, momento em que as mesmas desfrutam de uma relativa projeção internacional. Essa projeção é o resultado de uma dupla sustentabilidade: por um lado, as condições materiais de criação e produção artística e, por outro, a sustentabilidade ou manutenção de um padrão estético enraizado na tradição e na história do país. Palavras-chave Arte angolana; produção artística; periferiaContrary to the optimism of some analysts (Marchart, 2014), the contexts of artistic production continue to reproduce the current asymmetries in the world economy and in the international system, so that, akin to economies and states, such contexts can be classified as central, peripheral and possibly semi-peripheral 1 . The Angolan artistic context, object of the present paper, is, following this nomenclature, peripheral. It is based 1 In reference to the space of the countries with Portuguese as an official language, and characterising language as specific context for the production of knowledge, culture and art, Moisés Lemos Martins (2017) draws the attention to the fact that in that context lies the issue of hegemonic language and of scientific domination.