Cape-Town-based cultural analyst, editor, and teacher Ashraf Jamal joins Gcobani Sipoyo, Alexandra Dodd and Andrew Lamprecht in conversation to mark the launch In the World: Essays on Contemporary South African Art.

A collection of essays focused on 24 South African artists designed to reconfigure the national narrative within a broader African and global context. An inclusive exercise in cultural analysis, this book deals with the gravitas and folly of identity politics, the boom of so-called African art, and the fetish and fascination with a global Esperanto. Designed to provoke thought and feeling, it is hoped that this collection of essays on South African art will reach a wide audience. The book’s strength lies in its diversity of focus and cultural frameworks. It offers no defining system or divining rod. Rather, it is hoped that this book will provide a healthy contribution to an already thriving debate regarding the value and purpose of contemporary art, the ongoing significance of the decolonising project, and the importance of art from Africa in the global pantheon.

– Skira Books