In geological terms, fault lines reveal themselves as fractures in the earth’s surface but they also mark a break in the continuity of the strata and create new landscapes.

Fault Lines brings together artists and writers from Africa and the African diaspora whose works trace the fault lines that are shaping contemporary experience locally and globally.

Published on the occasion of the 50th Venice Biennale, Fault Lines traces a journey from the rousing words of the first presidents of the independent states of Africa to the current ‘states of emergency’ that Stuart Hall discerns in the work of the Fault Lines artists.

Achille Mbembe’s honest and insightful notes on the postcolony; Sarat Maharaj’s discussion of ‘cultural managerialism’ in apartheid South Africa; and Okwui Enwezor’s analysis of the institutional reception of multicultural art provide the cultural, economic and political context in which the Fault Lines artists are operating. Complementing Gilane Tawadros’s introduction to the curatorial framework of the exhibition and to the artists she has selected, essays have been commissioned from a wealth of established and emerging writers on the individual artists.

Contributors: Gamal Abdel-Nasser, Solomon Deressa, Deepali Dewan, Okwui Enwezor, Lisa Fischman, Elsabet Giorgis, Stuart Hall, Salah Hassan, Sarat Maharaj, Prince Massingham, Achille Mbembe, Prince Mbusi Dube, Kobena Mercer, Landry-Wilfrid Miampika, Adriano Mixinge, Simon Njami, Kwame Nkrumah, Bheki Peterson, Nasser Rabbat, Niru Ratman, Jérôme Sans, Mark Sealy, Yasmeen Siddiqui, Gilane Tawadros, Ramon Tio Bellido, Hamza Walker and Kateb Yacine.

Artists: Laylah Ali, Kader Attia, Samta Benyahia, Zarina Bhimji, Frank Bowling, Clifford Charles, Pitso Chinzima, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Hassan Fathy, Veliswa Gwintsa, Moshekwa Langa, Salem Mekuria, Sabah Naim, Moataz Nasr and Wael Shawky.

Published on occasion of the exhibition Fault Lines at the 50th Venice Biennale 2003.