Book: "Imagine if Black Artists Actually Mattered" - In Germany?

Black artists in Germany find themselves – necessarily – in a position in which double-consciousness; subversiveness and resistance – implicit and explicit – become essential strategies to be used in their work if they wish to survive in this predominantly white context.

“Imagine if Black Artists Actually Mattered?”, the first edition of the Witnessed series, answers the questions of how a society which has achieved true equality could look and what the central role of the artist is in shaping or creating these visions? What would Black artistic practices in the context of such a visionary society look like? What actions are possible beyond reaction and resistance?

This book attempts to contribute to a discourse that is underrepresented in Germany by providing a contextual discussion of the current situation of Black artists in Germany and also focuses on examining how contemporary Black artists in Germany create and convey visions of equality.


Sandrine Micossé-Aikins / Sharon Dodua Otoo (Eds.)
Imagine if Black Artists Actually Mattered?
Visions of Race Equality in Germany
Series: Witnessed, Edition 1
colour, paperback, 142×205 mm
approx. 128 pages, approx. 12.80 Euro
ISBN 978-3-942885-31-7 | WG 973
To be published in October 2012


About the authors:

Sandrine Micossé-Aikins is a painer, artist and curator and lives in Berlin. From 2008-2010 Sandrine Micossé-Aikins was the project manager of Re/Positionierung – Critical Whiteness/Perspectives of Color and co-curator of the workshop and exibition prét-a-partager.

Sharon Dodua Otoo is a Black British mother, activist, author and editor of the English language book series „Witnessed.“ „the things i am thinking while smiling politely,“ her first novella, was recently published in edition assemblage (2012). Sharon lives, laughs and works in Berlin.