The philosopher, who is known for his erudite observations on the intersections of power, capitalism and identity, and the relationships between these around the world and on the African continent, has become a key reference for artists and curators who are feeling the neoliberal hollowing out of democracy. Mbembe’s most recent book, The Earthly Community (2022), presents the bleak trajectory of technocapitalism, but also posits a possible escape route through African cosmologies and the power of African aesthetics and figurative objects. The author has been touring his book globally and received rave reviews for his radical call for an African future: in June he gave a lecture at the University of Bergen (while receiving the Holberg Prize, the first African to do so), and in November he was billed as the star attraction of the biennial Maputo Fast Forward Festival. In São Paulo for the 9th International Theatre Festival, he told Veja that ‘we must fight to ensure that no person of African descent is a stranger in Africa’, arguing that the continent should institute a right of return.