黑料门

The Black Europe Symposium will take place on March 23rd and 24th, 2023, on the 黑料门University Chicago campus. 

For detailed information, please see the program below or download .

This event was made possible by the generous support of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, the Institute for Racial Justice, the Dean鈥檚 Office, the Provost鈥檚 Office, the Interdisciplinary Honors Program, and the Global Studies Program at 黑料门University Chicago, as well as the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago. It has also benefited from partnerships with the Alliance fran莽aise de Chicago and the Consulate General of France in Chicago. 

This event is free and open to the public.

Day 1: 

Thursday, March 23, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Galvin Auditorium, Sullivan Center, Ground Floor, Lake Shore Campus. (6339 N Sheridan Rd, IL, 60626). 

• Welcoming remarks  
• Screening of Hamedine Kane鈥檚 The Blue House   
• Q&A with film director Hamedine Kane  

Day 2:

Friday, March 24, 10:00am- 3:30pm: What Is Black Europe? 

Wintrust Hall, Schreiber Center, Room 908, 9th Floor, Water Tower Campus 16 E Pearson St, Chicago, IL 60611 

10:00 a.m. to 12:30pm: An Introduction to Black Europe  

10:00-11:00 am: Panel discussion with Tristan Cabello, Hope Campbell-Gustafson, Cristina Lombardi-Diop and Eliana V膬驳膬濒膬耻 

11:00 a.m. to 12 p.m.: Readings by authors Cristina Ubah Ali Farah and N茅h茅my Pierre-Dahomey 

12:00-12:30 p.m.: Q&A with the authors 

12:30-1:30 p.m.:    Lunch 

1:30-3:30 p.m.: Open Forum with Cristina Ubah Ali Farah, N茅h茅my Pierre-Dahomey, Karima 2G, and Hamedine Kane, moderated by Cristina Lombardi-Diop and Eliana V膬驳膬濒膬耻 

6:00-8:00 p.m.: Closing Night at Heaven Gallery, 1550 N Milwaukee Ave #2, Chicago, IL 60622. Off-campus location.

• DJ set and Performance by Karima 2G 
• 础辫茅谤颈迟颈蹿/Aperitivo  

Ubah Cristina Ali Farah is a Somali Italian poet, novelist, playwright, librettist and oral performer. She is the author of three novels, Madre piccola (2007; Little Mother, IUP 2011, republished in 2022 by 66thand2nd) Il comandante del fiume (2014; The Commander of the River, forthcoming IUP 2021, republished in 2022 by 66thand2nd), Le stazioni della luna (The Stations of the Moon, June 2021), the 诲别濒濒鈥檈办辫丑谤补蝉颈蝉 La danza 诲别濒濒鈥檕谤颈肠别 (Juxta Press 2020) and a bilingual (French and Italian) collection of short stories Un sambouk traverse la mer (MEET 2020). With poetic poignancy, Ali Farah鈥檚 fictional and poetic work offers voice to the Somali diaspora, spanning crucial events in the country鈥檚 history, from the rise of independentist aspirations under Italy鈥檚 protectorate, through the Somali civil war, to the lives of young Somali in Rome. Her creative and scholarly commitment to Somali culture brought her to write a non-fiction book on the Somali folk theater and to collect oral stories of Somali women. In July 2018 her rewriting of Antigone was directed by Giuseppe Massa in Palermo and she developed a libretto on the basis of stories found in the Italian city of Matera for Silent City, an opera directed by James Bonas with music composed by Nigel Osborne in November 2019. She holds a Ph.D. in African Studies (鲍苍颈惫别谤蝉颈迟脿 尝鈥橭谤颈别苍迟补濒别 Napoli) and is the recipient of the Lingua Madre and Vittorini Prizes. 

Ubah Cristina Ali Farah 猫 una scrittrice e poetessa somala e italiana. 脠 autrice di tre romanzi, Madre piccola (Frassinelli 2007), Il comandante del fiume (66thand2nd 2014), Le stazioni della luna (66thand2nd 2021) e dell鈥�ekphrasis La danza 诲别濒濒鈥檕谤颈肠别 (Juxta Press 2020) ispirata a un鈥檕pera dell鈥檃rtista keniana Wangechi Mutu. Un sambouk traverse la mer, una sua antologia bilingue (italiano francese) di racconti 猫 uscita per il MEET (2019). Ha svolto un dottorato di ricerca di Africanistica all鈥櫛�苍颈惫别谤蝉颈迟脿 l鈥橭rientale di Napoli sul teatro popolare somalo. 脠 stata vincitrice del Premio Lingua Madre (2006) e Vittorini (2008). Attualmente sta lavorando all鈥檕pera La fille de l鈥�homme qui 辫谤茅惫辞测补颈迟 pour le futur, una riscrittura operistica di una favola tradizionale ruandese, creata con Dorcy Rugamba, James Bonas e 骋谤茅驳辞颈谤别 Point. Nel 2018 ha lavorato alla riscrittura dell鈥橝ntigone andata diretta a Palermo da Giuseppe Massa e al libretto dell鈥檕pera comunitaria Silent City per Matera 2019, diretta da James Bonas con musiche composte da Nigel Osborne.  

N茅h茅my Pierre-Dahomey is a writer, poet, and philosopher. Now living in Paris, he was born in Port-au-Prince in October 1986. He studied philosophy at the 脡cole Normale Sup茅rieure, in parallel with his activities as an actor. He won the first prize for poetry awarded by the Pl茅iade Group at the State University of Haiti with鈥�Mots鈥�茅辫补谤蝉, of which an eponymous collection was published with the texts of the two other winners. In 2010, still in Port-au-Prince and on his own account, he published鈥�贰尘尘耻谤茅, his first collection of poetry.  搁补辫补迟谤颈茅蝉, his first novel, was published in 2017 by the 脡诲颈迟颈辞苍蝉 du Seuil in Paris and it recounts the story of Belliqueuse Louissaint and her two daughters, B茅lial and Luciole, over a period of thirty years, from the days of the boat people to the earthquake of 2010. The recipient of multiple awards (Soci茅t茅 des Gens de Lettres, Carbet des lyc茅ens de la Cara茂be, Cin茅 del Duca Prize of the l'Acad茅mie Fran莽aise), the novel was met with both critical and public success.   

Published in March 2021,鈥�his second novel, Combats (脡诲颈迟颈辞苍蝉 du Seuil), digs further into Haiti鈥檚 history, to shed an inquisitive, yet tender, light, and highly sardonic look on the effects of the debt imposed by France on the newly independent republic.  Through the story of the conflict between two half-brothers, Ludovic and Balthazar Possible we are led into the Haitian countryside, where ancestral forms of resistance emerge in the most unexpected places. 

Pierre-Dahomey is currently working on his first essay as well as on his third novel, both coming out soon. 

N茅h茅my Pierre-Dahomey est 茅crivain, po猫te et philosophe. Vivant actuellement 脿 Paris, il est n茅 脿 Port-au-Prince en octobre 1986. Il a 茅tudi茅 la philosophie 脿 l'脡cole Normale Sup茅rieure, parall猫lement 脿 ses activit茅s de com茅dien. Il a remport茅 le premier prix de po茅sie d茅cern茅 par le groupe Pl茅iade de l'Universit茅 d'脡tat d'Ha茂ti avec Mots 茅辫补谤蝉, dont un recueil 茅ponyme a 茅t茅 publi茅 avec les textes des deux autres laur茅ats. En 2010, toujours 脿 Port-au-Prince et 脿 compte d'auteur, il publie 贰尘尘耻谤茅, son premier recueil de po茅sie.  搁补辫补迟谤颈茅蝉, son premier roman, est paru en 2017 aux 茅ditions du Seuil 脿 Paris. Il y raconte l'histoire de Belliqueuse Louissaint et de ses deux filles, B茅lial et Luciole, sur une p茅riode de trente ans, de l'茅poque des boat people au tremblement de terre de 2010. R茅compens茅 par de multiples prix (Soci茅t茅 des Gens de Lettres, Carbet des lyc茅ens de la Cara茂be, Prix Cin茅 del Duca de l'Acad茅mie fran莽aise), le roman a rencontr茅 un succ猫s critique et public.   

Publi茅 en mars 2021, son deuxi猫me roman, Combats (脡诲颈迟颈辞苍蝉 du Seuil), creuse davantage l'histoire d'Ha茂ti, pour porter un regard interrogateur, mais tendre, l茅ger et tr猫s sardonique sur les effets de la dette impos茅e par la France 脿 cette R茅publique nouvellement ind茅pendante.  脌 travers l'histoire du conflit entre deux demi-fr猫res, Ludovic et Balthazar Possible, le narrateur nous entra卯ne dans la campagne ha茂tienne, o霉 des formes ancestrales de r茅sistance 茅mergent dans les endroits les plus inattendus. 

Pierre-Dahomey travaille actuellement 脿 son premier essai ainsi qu'脿 son troisi猫me roman, 脿 para卯tre bient么t. 

Anna Maria Gehnyei (aka Karima 2G) is a Liberian Italian singer, rapper, dancer, writer, activist, and beats-maker. In her music, she combines electronic elements, urban bass music, and grime with Afro influences, incorporating English and pidgin English, her mother tongue, in her singing and rapping. She holds degrees in Communications, Political Science, and Art & Design. Her solo debut album (2G) dates to 2014 and uses music and oral performance as medium to bring out the values of her culture of origin in an Italian perspective, focusing on anti-Blackness and the integration of second-generation Europeans. The videos released with her first two singles, 鈥淥rangutan鈥� and 鈥淏unga Bunga,鈥� exposed the racist climate of Italy鈥檚 political life with ironic, Afrofuturist aesthetics. Her 2018 music video for her EP 鈥淢alala鈥� re-interprets the 1966 film by Ousmane Semb猫ne La Noire De鈥� by transporting the story of a Black woman worker in contemporary Rome. More recently, her songs and videos address larger themes with an international scope, such as modern-day slavery. She collaborates with History Channel, Al Jazeera, and Amnesty International and is currently writing a book focused on her biography. Currently, Karima 2g created and performed in If There Is no Sun, a performance dance promoted by the Italian Ministry of Culture that premiered at the Teatro Indie in Rome in the summer of 2022. She just published a novel by the title Il corpo nero (The Black Body). 

Anna Maria Gehnyei, nota con il nome di Karima 2g, 猫 cantante, danzatrice, e producer italiana di origine liberiana. La sua carriera artistica inizia come danzatrice ma presto diventa vocalist professionista dalle consolle delle maggiori discoteche italiane. Nel 2014 esordisce come solista e i video dei primi due singoli, Orangutan e Bunga Bunga, provocano reazioni in pubblico e critica dalle riviste musicali passando per il Corriere della Sera, Il Fatto Quotidiano e Vogue. Grazie al suo percorso artistico, la John Cabot University le riconosce una borsa di studio internazionale, e nel 2020 si plurilaurea in Communications e Political Science. Nel 2022 debutta con il suo primo spettacolo teatrale If There Is No Sun, di cui 猫 anche autrice. Il corpo nero 猫 il suo primo romanzo. 

Hamedine Kane鈥�is a Senegalese and Mauritanian artist and film director who lives and works between Brussels and Dakar. Through his practice, Kane frequents borders, not as signs and factors of impossibility, but as places of passage and transformation, as a central element in the conception of itinerant identity. After ten years of exile in Europe, his practice now focuses on the themes of memory and heritage. This aspect of his work is taking shape with the research project鈥�脡cole des Mutants / The School of Mutants鈥痠n collaboration with St茅phane Verlet-Bottero. In Kane鈥檚 works, these themes intermingle with the past and the future, transgressing and irrigating the limits of space and time. Kane participated in the Dak鈥橝rt Biennale, the Taipei Biennial, the Casablanca Biennale, Documenta 14, and his work was displayed in various exhibitions as part of the Africa2020 season in France, such as The Colonie and the FIAC. His film鈥�The Blue House, which had its world premiere at IDFA in Amsterdam in November 2020, received a special mention from the jury.  His current work-in-progress, Trois Am茅ricains 脿 Paris, takes as its starting point a part of the life and work of three great African American writers who went into exile in Paris in the mid-1940s: Richard Wright, Chester Himes, and James Baldwin. 

Hamedine Kane est un artiste et r茅alisateur s茅n茅galais et mauritanien qui vit et travaille entre Bruxelles et Dakar. A travers sa pratique, Kane fr茅quente les fronti猫res, non pas comme des signes et des facteurs d'impossibilit茅, mais comme des lieux de passage et de transformation, comme un 茅l茅ment central dans la conception d'une identit茅 itin茅rante. Apr猫s dix ans d'exil en Europe, sa pratique se concentre d茅sormais sur les th猫mes de la m茅moire et de l'h茅ritage. Cet aspect de son travail prend forme avec le projet de recherche L'脡cole des Mutants / The School of Mutants en collaboration avec St茅phane Verlet-Bottero. Dans les 艙uvres de Kane, ces th猫mes se m锚lent au pass茅 et au futur, transgressant et irriguant les limites de l'espace et du temps. Kane a particip茅 aux Biennales de Dak'Art, de Taipei, de Casablanca, 脿 Documenta 14, et son travail a 茅t茅 pr茅sent茅 dans diverses expositions dans le cadre de la saison Africa2020 en France, telles que la Colonie et la FIAC. Son film The Blue House, qui a 茅t茅 pr茅sent茅 en premi猫re mondiale 脿 l'IDFA d'Amsterdam en novembre 2020, a 茅t茅 r茅compens茅 par une mention sp茅ciale du jury.  Son projet en cours, Trois Am茅ricains 脿 Paris, prend comme point de d茅part une partie de la vie et de l'艙uvre de trois grands 茅crivains afro-am茅ricains qui se sont exil茅s 脿 Paris au milieu des ann茅es 1940 : Richard Wright, Chester Himes et James Baldwin. 

Tristan Cabello is Associate Director of the Master of Liberal Arts at the Johns Hopkins University. He is an historian of minorities, and specializes on transatlantic conversations about race, sexuality and secularism. He regularly appears in the French media (Le Monde, Lib茅ration, BFMTV, France 24) to discuss American cultures and politics. You can follow him on twitter at @tristancabello.鈥�

Tristan Cabello est co-directeur du Master of Liberal Arts 脿 l'Universit茅 Johns Hopkins. Il est historien des minorit茅s et se sp茅cialise dans les d茅bats transatlantiques sur la race, la sexualit茅 et la la茂cit茅. Il intervient r茅guli猫rement dans les m茅dias fran莽ais (Le Monde, Lib茅ration, BFMTV, France 24) pour traiter des cultures et de la politique am茅ricaines. Il peut 锚tre suivi sur Twitter 脿 l'adresse @tristancabello.

Hope Campbell Gustafson holds an MFA in Literary Translation from the University of Iowa and a B.A. from Wesleyan University. Her translation work has been published in various journals, including Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations, and Islands鈥擭ew Islands: A Vagabond Guide to Rome by Marco Lodoli. Her translation of Ubah Cristina Ali Farah's novel Commander of the River is forthcoming in May 2023 from Indiana University Press. Originally from Minneapolis, and now living in Brooklyn, Campbell Gustafson is Senior Program Associate for the Civitella Ranieri Foundation. 

Hope Campbell Gustafson ha conseguito un master in traduzione letteraria presso l'鲍苍颈惫别谤蝉颈迟脿 dell'Iowa e una laurea presso la Wesleyan University. Le sue traduzioni sono apparse in varie riviste, inclusa  Banthology: Stories from Unwanted Nations, e Islands鈥擭ew Islands: A Vagabond Guide to Rome di Marco Lodoli. La sua traduzione del romanzo Il comandante del fiume, di di Ubah Cristina Ali Farah uscir脿 a maggio 2023 per Indiana University Press. Originaria di Minneapolis, ora residente a Brooklyn, Campbell Gustafson 猫 Senior Program Associate per la Civitella Ranieri Foundation. 

CRISTINA LOMBARDI-DIOP is Assistant Professor of Italian Studies and head of the Italian Program in the Modern Languages and Literatures Department of 黑料门University Chicago, where she teaches courses on African literature, Italian cultural history, and gender and migration. She is editor, with Caterina Romeo, of Postcolonial Italy (2012) (published in Italian as L鈥橧talia postcoloniale) and author, with Gaia Giuliani, of Bianco e nero. Storia dell鈥檌dentit脿 razziale degli italiani (2013). Founder and director of the publishing series Transiti, for Le Monnier Mondadori, Cristina has published widely on such topics as white colonial femininity; the Black Atlantic and the Mediterranean; African cultural spaces and African diasporic literature in Italy. Most recently, she has edited two journal special issues, one on Postcolonial Europe (2016) and the other on Afrofuturismo: Spazi, corpi, estetiche, pensiero dell鈥檃frotopia. She is currently working on theories of race from fascism to postcolonial contemporaneity and the presence of Black diasporic culture in Italy. 

CRISTINA LOMBARDI-DIOP 猫 docente universitario e direttore del programma di italianistica presso il dipartimento di Modern Languages and Literatures della 黑料门University di Chicago. 脠 curatrice, con Caterina Romeo, di Postcolonial Italy (2012) (pubblicata in italiano come L'Italia postcoloniale) e autrice, con Gaia Giuliani, di Bianco e nero. Storia dell'identit脿 razziale degli italiani (2013). Fondatrice e direttrice della collana editoriale Transiti, per Le Monnier Mondadori, Lombardi-Diop ha pubblicato ampiamente su temi come la femminilit脿 coloniale bianca; le diaspore nere atlantiche e mediterranee e gli spazi culturali africani e la letteratura diasporica africana in Italia. Pi霉 recentemente, ha curato due numeri speciali, uno su Postcolonial Europe (2016) e l'altro su Afrofuturismo: Spazi, corpi, estetiche, pensiero dell鈥檃frotopia (2019)

Eliana V膬驳膬濒膬耻 is Assistant Professor of Francophone literature at 黑料门University Chicago. Her research focuses on Caribbean literature, the relationship between aesthetics and politics, and issues of race and diaspora. She has published and lectured on the work of writers and philosophers such as Dany Laferri猫re, Maryse Cond茅, James No毛l, and Edouard Glissant. She co-edited, with Martin Munro, the volume Jean-Claude Charles: A Reader's Guide, published by Liverpool University Press in 2022. She is a co-founder of the Collectif Jean-Claude Charles, which aims to promote and make visible the writing of this fundamental Haitian author through publications, conferences, and performances. Since 2020, she is the vice-editor of the literary and artistic journal intranQu'卯llit茅s. 

Eliana V膬驳膬濒膬耻 est professeure adjointe de litt茅rature francophone 脿 l'Universit茅 黑料门Chicago. Ses recherches portent sur la litt茅rature des Cara茂bes, la relation entre l'esth茅tique et la politique, ainsi que les questions de race et de diaspora. Elle a publi茅 des articles et pr茅sent茅 des conf茅rences sur l鈥櫯搖vre d'茅crivains et de philosophes tels que Dany Laferri猫re, Maryse Cond茅, James No毛l et Edouard Glissant. Elle a co茅dit茅, avec Martin Munro, le volume Jean-Claude Charles : A Reader鈥檚 Guide, paru chez Liverpool University Press en 2022. Elle est co-fondatrice du Collectif Jean-Claude Charles, qui vise 脿 promouvoir et rendre visible l鈥櫭ヽriture de cet auteur ha茂tien fondamental 脿 travers des publications, des conf茅rences et des performances. Depuis 2020, elle est vice-茅ditrice de la revue litt茅raire et artistique intranQu鈥櫭甽lit茅s.