Projects per year
Personal profile
Academic Background
Ph.D in Social Science, University of Amsterdam (2001)
Biography
Key Research Interests
- Heritage, art and postcolonial memory
- Masquerading, performance and intangible heritage
- Museums, materiality, time and temporality
- Art, aesthetics and performance
- Archive and Utopia
Current Research Projects
- For several years I have researched how art, performance and memory intersect in museums, memorials and heritage. In my research in Senegal, I have addressed performance and intangible heritage in a context of post-colonial nation-building in which the legacies of slavery and colonialism are still prevalent and inform postcolonial memory.
- Researching heritage in Senegal, I have found it to be framed by pan-African ideologies. My most recent research papers address the complex legacy of pan-Africanism in the current context of Afro-optimism. How is Pan-Africanism recycled and how is it given new relevance in the postcolony. In 2011 I was awarded a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship to complete a monograph on this subject.
- As a result of my interests in contemporary art and memory, I am increasingly drawn to the ways in which artists work in the archive. As a metaphor for systems for the storage of documents and traces of the past, I have started to explore contemporary postcolonial artists work within the archive. Such archival work is often presented as a critique of the colonial archive and meant to open postcolonial futures. I am Principal Investigator of an AHRC Research Network on Utopian Archives: Excavating Pasts for Postcolonial Futures.
Research Grants
- The Pan-African Heritage of Senegal. British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship, award reference: MD120035.
- Utopian Archives: Excavating Pasts for Postcolonial Futures. Principal Investigator, AHRC Research Network Grant, award reference: AH/J006122/1.
- The Aesthetics of Modernity and Postcolonial Citizenship in Senegal. The Royal Academy, award reference: SG102029.
- The Staged Nation: Heritage and Memory in Postcolonial Senegal. Arts and Humanities Research Council, award reference: AH/F013116/1.
- The Public Past: Memory and Heritage in Postcolonial Senegal. Economic and Social Research Council, award reference: RES-000-22-0735.
- History, Heritage and Memory: Politics of the Past in Senegal. The British Academy, award reference: SG-36720.
Areas of Expertise
Teaching Interests
- Anthropology
- African art
- Material culture
- Public art
- Cityscapes
- Art, aesthetics and performance
- Archive
Research supervision
I am interested in supervising research students in all areas of traditional and contemporary African art; public art and memory; heritage and material culture; cities and their imagination.
Current Research Students
Katie Boone – Migrant heritage in Cyprus
Rania Jaber – Lebanese women artists in diaspora
Examples of modules taught
African Art and Performance
Contemporary African Arts
Public Art, Performance and Memory
Uses of Cultural Heritage
The Archive
Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
Projects
- 6 Finished
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Utopian Archives: Excavating Pasts for Postcolonial Futures
Arts and Humanities Research Council
17/04/12 → 31/05/14
Project: Research
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The Aesthetics of Modernity and Postcolonial Citizenship in Senegal
1/06/11 → 31/05/12
Project: Research
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Decolonizing Heritage: Time to Repair in Senegal
De Jong, F., 19 Mar 2021, (Accepted/In press) Cambridge University Press. (International African Library)Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Archive of Darkness: William Kentridge's Black Box/Chambre Noire
de Jong, F., 31 Jan 2018, In: African Arts. 51, 1, p. 10-23 14 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile1 Citation (Scopus)52 Downloads (Pure) -
Infrastructures of utopia: ruination and regeneration of the African future
de Jong, F. & Quinn-Valente, B., May 2018, In: Africa. 88, 2, p. 332-351 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile4 Citations (Scopus)35 Downloads (Pure) -
Animating the archive: The trial and testimony of a Sufi saint
De Jong, F., Feb 2016, In: Social Anthropology. 24, 1, p. 36-51 16 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile5 Citations (Scopus)15 Downloads (Pure) -
At work in the archive: introduction to special issue
De Jong, F., 2016, In: World Art. 6, 1, p. 3-17 15 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open AccessFile13 Downloads (Pure)
Activities
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18th ACASA (Arts Council of the African Studies Association) Triennial
Ferdinand De Jong (Speaker)
16 Jun 2021 → 20 Jun 2021Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
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Repair: A Concept for the 21st Century?
Ferdinand De Jong (Organiser)
26 May 2021 → 27 May 2022Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
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Conference of the European Association of Social Anthropologists
Ferdinand De Jong (Speaker)
29 Mar 2021 → 2 Apr 2021Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
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Archives et traces: Figures visibles et invisibles du passé
Ferdinand De Jong (Speaker)
9 Dec 2020Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference
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Africa Knows!
Ferdinand De Jong (Speaker)
1 Dec 2020 → 28 Feb 2021Activity: Participating in or organising an event › Participation in conference