In 1926, the African American intellectual, activist and sociologist W.E.B. Du Bois prompted an important debate on the representation of Black people in art and literature. It ranged from questions about the relation of art to politics and propaganda to the role of curators and publishing houses, sponsors, public taste, and, of course, the complicity of art and literature with overt and subtle forms of discrimination. The participants included well-known artists and activists at the time from the US and Europe, but also the odd businessman or interested citizen, both white and Black. Their answers to a questionaire published in the magazine "The Crisis" were quite frank and very diverse. Both questions and answers are as relevant today as they were 100 years ago, but in different ways - this is what we want to discuss.
