In the last two decades or so, more and more international and trans-regional festivals have been taking place on the African continent. Among them are large-scale productions as well as smaller ones, all of them reflecting tendencies in the international as well as the local production of art. The Africultures issue “Festivals and Biennals in Africa: Machine or Utopia?” addresses the fascinating but also challenging connection between the artistic presentation of the biennals and festivals, the audience receiving the work, and the authorities of power. The issue elaborates on historic analyses of the festivals organised to accompany the establishment of young, independent states, as well as focusing on more recent biennals that began in the second half of the 1980’s.

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