Between speculative imagination and historical memory: an analysis of afrofuturism's capacity for futurity in the exhibition In the black fantastic.

This thesis looked at the tension between speculative imagination and historical memory in Afrofuturistic art by asking the question; To what extent do the artworks and framing of the exhibition In the Black Fantastic shape Afrofuturism as a practice of speculative autonomy or as a reworking of historical trauma? The goal of the thesis was to examine how futurity functions in a specific Western museum environment rather than generalizing about the emancipatory potential of Afrofuturism. The thesis used a combination of visual analysis, discourse analysis and theoretical framing to show that In the Black Fantastic occupies a complex position. On the one hand, the exhibition represents Afrofuturist ideas and aesthetics, like reconstructed histories, speculative cosmologies, and mythological inversion, in order to challenge racial norms and assert the presence of black people in imagined futures. The artworks analysed show complexity and ambition as they work not to reduce the black...Show moreThis thesis looked at the tension between speculative imagination and historical memory in Afrofuturistic art by asking the question; To what extent do the artworks and framing of the exhibition In the Black Fantastic shape Afrofuturism as a practice of speculative autonomy or as a reworking of historical trauma? The goal of the thesis was to examine how futurity functions in a specific Western museum environment rather than generalizing about the emancipatory potential of Afrofuturism. The thesis used a combination of visual analysis, discourse analysis and theoretical framing to show that In the Black Fantastic occupies a complex position. On the one hand, the exhibition represents Afrofuturist ideas and aesthetics, like reconstructed histories, speculative cosmologies, and mythological inversion, in order to challenge racial norms and assert the presence of black people in imagined futures. The artworks analysed show complexity and ambition as they work not to reduce the black experience to simple victimhood. However, on the other hand, the artworks and their curatorial presentation often connect speculative imagination to histories of slavery, colonialism and racial violence. Therefore, speculative imagination frequently manifests as symbolic restoration, reversal, or repair rather than offering a radically wide horizon of being in that the future's connection to disaster gives it significance. This does not necessarily mean that Afrofuturism is always tied to trauma but rather shows that black art is made intelligible through institutional shaping. Black futurity frequently becomes understandable in Western exhibition contexts when it alludes to well-known stories of past hardship and struggle. The burden of representation and the continuity of postcolonial stereotypes create conditions where imagination has to justify itself through history. In this sense, In the Black Fantastic reveals a tension at the heart of Afrofuturism in institutions: the desire to move beyond racialised pasts exists at the same time as frameworks that keep connecting the future to these pasts. This analysis is part of a conversation about decolonisation, Afrocentricity, Post-Africanism and representation politics. This thesis contributed to said conversations, not by judging the exhibitions success or failure in any specific context but by trying to understand how the idea of autonomy is influenced by curatorial discourse, global art circulation and institutional expectations. Afrofuturism's potential for the future appears to be contextual rather than absolute, shaped by exhibitionary settings, yet made possible by creative form. These discoveries suggest various opportunities for further investigation. First, new curatorial practices may be developed that purposefully foreground speculative world-building without putting trauma as the major interpretative anchor. What might an exhibition look like that favours ambiguity, cosmic exploration, or daily futurity over narratives of resistance? Further study should explore displays that reduce explanatory framing or that decentre colonial history as the governing logic of interpretation. Second, comparative research between Western institutions and African museums or biennales might give significant knowledge. African-centred exhibits may operate under differing standards of authenticity and representation, thus allowing Afrofuturism to act less as counter-memory and more as speculative continuation - do African systems afford alternative interactions between memory and futurity? Finally, future studies may go beyond museum contexts completely, investigating how Afrofuturism occurs via internet platforms, independent art venues, or community-based activities where institutional legibility is less prevalent. Such study would further clarify whether the conflict outlined in this thesis is innate to Afrofuturism or peculiar to its mediation within Western cultural infrastructures. This thesis has made the case that Afrofuturism's potential is found in navigating history rather than escaping it by charting the gap between historical memory and speculative imagination. The concern is whether trauma continues to be the dominant language used to make Black futures comprehensible, not if it vanishes. This research advances a more nuanced understanding of Afrofuturism's potential for futurity by analysing In the Black Fantastic as a concentrated case study. This approach acknowledges both the transformational aim of Afrofuturism and the structural factors that influence its manifestation.Show less

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Between speculative imagination and historical memory: an analysis of afrofuturism's capacity for futurity in the exhibition In the black fantastic.