Françoise Vergès

Françoise Vergès takes her starting point from the Rif War in Morocco 1921–1926, where the indigenous population fought to establish a republic before being brutally crushed by Spanish and French troops led by Francisco Franco and Philippe Pétain. In 1931, the “Exposition coloniale internationale” was organised at the Palais de la Porte Dorée in Paris, which showcased the benefits of the spread of colonialism. At the same time, an anti-colonial and anti-racist counter-exhibition was taking place in the city, “La verité sur les colonies”, with contributions from, among others, surrealists André Breton, Paul Éluard and Louis Arago, about the abuses and oppression in the French colonial empire. Today, the Palais de la Porte Dorée has, ironically enough, been transformed into a museum on the history of migration.

By quoting surrealists and analysing the interaction of colonialism and fascism, Françoise Vergès’ lecture provides a deeper understanding of the historical structures and events that continue to influence our time.

Françoise Vergès

Françoise Vergès (Reunion Island/France) is a Paris-based political theorist, anti-racist feminist activist, independent curator and educator. Vergès is currently a Senior Fellow Researcher at the Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Race and Racialization, University College, London (UK), and holds the 2025 Banister Fletcher Fellowship for her project “Imagining the Post-Museum”.

Recent publications: “Making the World Clean. Wasted Lives, Wasted Environment and Racial Capitalism” (2024), “A Program of Absolute Disorder. Decolonizing the Museum” (2024), “A Feminist Theory of Violence” (2022), “A Decolonial Feminism” (2021), “Resolutely Black, Conversations with Aimé Césaire” (2019).