cancelled: María do Mar Castro Varela - Double Bind

Postcolonial readings in the arts and culture and in cultural education have recently become ever more popular. However, these mostly recite rather than critique what has already been said. Even though more critical debates on and with theories of postcoloniality are urgently needed, for example to expose the unbearably dominant Eurocentric exhibition and communication practices. The one who leaves behind dominant thought practices can tolerate and unmask this ambivalence – this ‘double bind’ – of the postcolonial situation that can be best described as sitting on the fence: not being able to choose between ‘business as usual’ and harsh criticism of Eurocentric thought. The postcolonial theorist and educationalist María do mar Castro Varela advocates an aesthetic educational practice of unlearning in order to create a platform for capturing and talking about the complexity of postcolonial situations.