ABSTRACT
The central claim that I defend in this chapter is that the meaning of a given symbolic artefact cannot be comprehended properly without accounting for the philosophical framework of its production, its contextual dimension, and its temporal dimension. In the first part of the chapter, I unpack this claim. In the second part of the chapter, I investigate the political and philosophical natures of intervention. I further argue that intervening in colonial artefacts – through, for example, acts of generative destruction as well as contextual transplantation or removal from public view – can alter their signifying power, often in ways that serve the decolonial project. This chapter is presented as a series of reflections that draws on insights from philosophers (specifically, Jacques Derrida and Achille Mbembe) and artists (specifically, William Kentridge and Anselm Kiefer).
