lluminating Identity: A Celebration of African Artists in the Digital Era is the result of a project undertaken by art and art history students at Colorado State University during a seminar course on Contemporary African Art in Spring 2024. Throughout the semester, students were asked to research and read about the field of African art history with a focus on the postcolonial period. Students critically examined how ideas of “naivety” and “primitivism” that originated in colonial narratives have deeply affected art historical scholarship on African art and explored more recent discussions concerning the “authenticity” of contemporary African art.

As students began developing this exhibition, they felt it was important to feature African artists and their individual experiences. As a result, they sought artists who largely work in digital media and asked them to respond to the topic of “identity.” This student-developed international exhibition is one of the first in the U.S. to solely focus on digital media from the African continent and highlights the innovative nature of art that is being produced across Africa.

This exhibition was displayed at the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art in Fall 2024, and is also available virtually through a student-designed website