Mindful of debates around the term ‘postcolonialism’ as well as the asynchronicity of the colonial experience and decolonisation processes, The Afterlives of the Postcolonial explores the term as an ideological and cultural response to colonialist structures and formulations rather than a condition that transcends colonialism all together.

The eponymous conference The Afterlives of the Postcolonial, held in Sharjah, gathered key voices whose work represents discourses, practices, theories and critical perspectives that have emerged earlier from the terrain of the postcolonial and its present and future challenges. Acting as a snapshot summary of the conference, this publication includes transcripts from the keynote speakers, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Angela Davis and Manthia Diawara, as well as reflections from local audiences who attended the conference.

The Afterlives of the Postcolonial was the theme of the 14th edition of March Meeting, Sharjah Art Foundation’s annual convening of artists, curators and art practitioners to explore critical issues in contemporary art through panels, lectures and performances. The conference and publication are setting the stage to Sharjah Biennial 15: Thinking Historically in the Present (2023), which expands on the late curator Okwui Enwezor’s influential thinking about the biennial as a platform to engage with history, politics and society.