Zombie Reader, Manuel Arturo Abreu

We have entered a phase of radical reconfiguration of our methods of learning, of perceiving history, of sharing knowledge. manuel arturo abreu, a LatinX artist and writer of Dominican descent, is spearheading the new tactics of radical, alternative education. Dedicated to unlearning, Abreu in his blended practice spares no mercy for European-Western modernism by dissecting and reconfiguring its historical components and retelling the dominant version of art history.

Radical education is becoming a tool of performativity, of collective self-organisation and the credo of the undercommons. In his series of lectures, abreu creates bodies of narration that resonate globally, tapping on collective pop fascinations such as the fear and attraction of the zombie.

Zombies have taken over the channels as iconic horrific projections of our homogenised, identity-deprived, alternate selves. In his revisiting of the zombie story, he traces its origins in its birthplace. He debunks the myth and attacks colonial narratives that created such an apotropaic mass terror to intoxicate the insurgent young republics like the Haitian one. How can we better deal with history, and art history, if we are not ready to confront it for what it is – a means of oppression, a means of colonial, offensive superiority? 

Cassandra Press was founded in 2016 by artist Kandis Williams as an independent publishing project. At its core, Cassandra Press examines tools of perception and racism, and their dominant role and expressions within current sociocultural systems. The press publishes lo-fi readers with texts by Black critical theorists, organises courses and produces artist zines and catalogues covering a broad range of topics that fuse questions of ethics, racial colonial violence, white supremacist delusion, and aesthetics.

Softcover
52 pages
150 x 210 mm