If Britain looked anew, it could learn so much about the arts from Africa

Illustration by Eva Bee.

In a recent piece for The Guardian, columnist Afua Hirsch suggests that it's time for the United Kingdom to stop boasting about its "world-leading" status in cultural production, and instead find inspiration in, and support for, the arts abroad. Hirsch helped create a three-part series on the art of Kenya, Ethiopia and Senegal, for the BBC-- believing that this is an important time to engage with African art, while also confronting Britain's colonial narrative about artistic production.

"Britain does not have a track record of learning from countries like Senegal, because the need to be “world leading” clouds our judgment with a narrative of superiority that has a very specific history when it comes to the art of the African continent."