Frank B. Wilderson III: On Afropessimism and Structural Antagonisms

In line with In formation's focus on the mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion underpinning both neoliberal democracy and the role of public institutions, American writer, dramatist, filmmaker and critic Frank B. Wilderson III gives a talk on some of the key themes of his seminal work on race, social movements and artistic production. His research encompasses notions of Afro-pessimism, structural antagonism and black social death, and these concerns are carried into his engagements with activist filmmaking, theatre production and poetry.   

The talk is followed by a discussion and Q&A led by curator and researcher Paul Goodwin    

On 10 August, Wilderson will return to the ICA for a screening of his film Reparations...Now and a conversation with collective sorryyoufeeluncomfortable

Frank B. Wilderson III is a professor in the Department of African American Studies at UC Irvine and Director of the Culture & Theory PhD Program. He spent five and a half years in South Africa, where he held elected office in the African National Congress during the apartheid era and worked for Umkhonto We Sizwe. His books include Incognegro: a Memoir of Exile and Apartheid and Red, White, & Black: Cinema and the Structure of U.S. Antagonisms. Dr. Wilderson is also a creative writer, and has received a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, The Maya Angelou Award, The Zora Neale Hurston/Richard Wright Legacy Award, The Judith Stronach Award for Poetry, and The American Book Award.

Paul Goodwin is a curator, urbanist and researcher based in London. His curatorial and writing projects span the fields of art and migration, transnational art practices such as global exhibitions, curatorial studies and socially engaged art practices with a focus on African and Black diaspora visual cultures. He is currently Chair of Contemporary Art and Urbanism and Director of the Research Centre for Transnational Art, Identity and Nation (TrAIN) at University of the Arts London.