Let me begin by mentioning that this panel is the second of a three-part series on issues in contemporary African art. The first panel, which appeared in issue no. 22/23 of Nka focused on large-scale exhibitions, which have been instrumental in bringing the work of African artists to global attention, and the third will examine the politics of contemporary African and the art museum. Our interest here is with the scholarship of contemporary African art, and by this I mean teaching, research and publishing in the field. We could go in a number of directions, but hopefully we will consider such questions as the place of Contemporary African in Art History programs, its relationship with western contemporary art as a subfield within art history, but also the challenges of training graduate students. We will also walk on such gritty grounds as the relationship between contemporary and traditional/classical African art history, and of course the state of the scholarship. I am sure some others important topics will surface in the course of our exchange. In the meantime, let me ask: how do we as individual scholars imagine the field of contemporary African art history and our place in it?
-Chika Okeke-Agulu, Princeton University
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