Black Europe Symposium
Symposium
Thursday, 23 and 24 March 2023
Loyola University
The Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, in collaboration with Loyola University Chicago, presents Black Europe Symposium, a series of lectures with writers and artists of African descent who have contributed significantly to today’s European cultural life through different media, including music, film, literature, the visual arts, performance, and poetic expressions. The series is not only addressed to students and to the university community, but it will be opened to the public of Chicago. Black Europe highlights the complex processes that forge a new Europe through cross-cultural encounters and identity formation, while emphasizing the importance of the arts and foreign languages and cultures in a world that is also changing through migration.
The invited guests come from different national and cultural backgrounds and their main languages of expression are French and Italian. Yet, their cultural identity is fluid, moving in and out of many languages, social contexts, affiliations, and memories. Alongside the artists, the symposium gathers a group of scholars to foster a sustained reflection on the shifting valences of "African", "European" and "Blackness" in the context of today’s Europe and the United States. Meet the speakers
The event is free and open to the public.
Day1
Thursday, March 23, from 5:30-7:30pm CT
Galvin Auditorium, Sullivan Center, Ground Floor, Lake Shore Campus
6339 N Sheridan Rd, IL, 60626
Welcoming remarks
Screening of Hamedine Kane’s “The Blue House”
Followed by a discussion with the film director
Day 2
Friday, March 24, from 10:30am-3:30pm CT
Wintrust Hall, Schreiber Center, Room 908, 9th Floor, Water Tower Campus
16 E Pearson St, Chicago, IL, 60611
10:00-12:30: Introduction to Black Europe
10:00-11:00: Meeting with Tristan Cabello, Hope Campbell-Gustafson, Cristina Lombardi-Diop and Eliana Vagalau
11:00-12:00: Readings by authors Cristina Ubah Ali Farah and Néhémy Pierre-Dahomey
12:00-12:30: Q&A with the authors
12:30-13:30: Lunch
13:30-15:30: Open forum with Cristina Ubah Ali Farah, Néhémy Pierre-Dahomey, Karima 2G and Hamedine Kane, moderated by Cristina Lombardi-Diop and Eliana Vagalau
Friday, March 24, from 6:00-8:00pm CT
Heaven Gallery
1550 N Milwaukee Ave #2, Chicago, IL, 60622
Closing night event with DJ set, performance of Karima 2G and cocktail reception.
This program is part of Chi Siamo: (Re)presenting Italian Culture, the theme selected for 2023 by the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago. This year-long series will explore the topics of representation and inclusion in Italian arts, with a specific focus on cross-cultural contamination in contemporary and modern Italy.
This symposium is part of a 2022-2023 series of initiatives at Loyola University Chicago that celebrate and discuss Blackness in its global instantiations.
