Nikos Papastergiadis: The Cultures Of The South As Cosmos

Nikos Papastergiadis

doi:10.7146/nja.v25i52.25615

Abstract

As the Global South is increasingly interpenetrated by neo-liberal and authoritarian regimes the idea of the South as a site of emancipatory resistance and exotic cultural difference has ended. This article offers an alternative route into the cultures of the South. It focuses on the shifting forms of the South in contemporary visual art and outlines the possibilities of non-coercive forms of cultural exchange and the cartographies of a cosmopolitanism from below. This perspective on the South is most evident in the stories of embodied solidarity that stand in contrast to top down visions of socio-economic development and cultural homogenization.

Highlights

As the Global South is increasingly interpenetrated by neo-liberal and authoritarian regimes the idea of the South as a site of emancipatory resistance and exotic cultural difference has ended
What is the nexus between the territory of the South and the world in the cultures of the South? Let us consider this question through the complex constellation of chromogenic photography and acrylic painting by Ian North: Seasons, Australia, Kongouro (1987)
There are as many focal points as there are panels, and despite this interplay the horizon recurs as a continuous line. These four themes in North’s image: Kangaroo – the hybrid creature, mouse mixed up with foxes; light – a mysterious force that stuns the eyes; geography/ontology – a land without frontiers; and optics – the problem of perspective, these are the major themes that run through the idea of the cultures of the South

Summary

Introduction

As the Global South is increasingly interpenetrated by neo-liberal and authoritarian regimes the idea of the South as a site of emancipatory resistance and exotic cultural difference has ended.

Results

Conclusion