Local communities of artistic practices and the slow emergence of a “post-racial” generation^*

* This paper is based on a previous oral presentation of the author (Martiniello 2017).

ABSTRACT

The paper sheds light on a neglected urban process in our heavily racialized and polarized contemporary societies: the slow emergence of an urban post-racial generation through artistic collaboration that is both locally rooted and transnationally connected. On the one hand, race and racism clearly still matter at the social and political levels. But, on the other hand, a part of urban youth transcends ethnic, racial, gender, class and religious boundaries in their daily lives. Used to living together whatever their assigned identity, they challenge, more or less consciously, mainstream racism and ethnicism through an active and intense collaboration in assorted artistic projects in various disciplines (music, dance, theatre, etc.). The paper, based on qualitative empirical data collected in two Belgian cities (Brussels and Liège), will document the existence of this “post-racial” generation and underline the necessity of studying it.

KEYWORDS:

• Post-racialism
• racism
• everyday multiculturalism
• artistic practices

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

* This paper is based on a previous oral presentation of the author (Martiniello 2017).

1 For Europe, see, for example, the Fundamental Rights Report 2017 published by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights: http://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2017/fundamental-rights-report-2017.

2 See the official website of the city of Liège: http://www.liege.be/vie-communale/liege-la-carte-visite.

3 See https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRKKfTo-OfIqbqDViYi2CSQ for videos of the crew (last accessed on 1 November 2017).

4 See Hexaler’s youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWpxyylYYlPrQIBom_slRuw (last accessed on 1 November 2017).

5 Interview with Hexaler, 22 September 2014.

6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cey_3FYmFmM (last accessed on 16 October 2017).

7 See the website of the parade for pictures: http://www.zinneke.org (last accessed on 1 November 2017).

8 See the website of the parade for pictures: http://www.fierisfeeries.be (last accessed on 1 November 2017).

9 http://2000.zinneke.org/carte.htm (last visited 17 October 2017, my own translation from French).

10 http://www.zinneke.org/-C-est-quoi,2 (last accessed on 18 October 2017, my own translation from French).

11 See the website of Fieris Féeries for pictures of the 2017 edition of the parade: http://fierisfeeries.be (last accessed on 18 October 2017).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fonds De La Recherche Scientifique – FNRS.