The anthology The White West contends that without the will to confront the structuring role of colonial schemas in Western epistemology, appeals to universal values and principles (such as “all lives matter”) contribute to the emergence of an equivocal space in which a critique or disruption of capitalism can be inflected in the direction of fascism.

Otobong Nkanga’s first monograph, Luster and Lucre, charts an intensely productive period from 2013 to 2016, which includes exhibitions at the 8th Berlin Biennale; Portikus, Frankfurt am Main; KADIST, Paris; and M HKA, Antwerp. Its title encapsulates the complex concerns that underpin these shows: “luster,” the illustrious shining of materials; and “lucre,” profits and gains.