Identity within My IDENTITY: Reimagining Decolonization of Arts Education Through Productive Sankofarism

This paper sought to explore the decolonization of African arts education via Productive Sankofarism, a paradigm that critically engages with Africa’s pre-colonial heritage to guide contemporary pedagogical practices. Inspired by the Akan concept of Sankofa, which emphasizes learning from the past to build the future, the study challenges the persistent Eurocentric dominance in African arts curricula and advocates for the incorporation of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS), philosophies, and aesthetics. Juxtaposing the disruptive legacies of colonialism with the sociopolitical diversity, economic dynamism and cultural richness of pre-colonial Africa provided the historical context within which the paper’s argument is framed. The study examines how western epistemologies and colonial systems suppressed African artistic traditions, creating a dissonance in identity and creative expression. By proposing Productive Sankofarism, the paper moves away from nostalgic traditionalism, highlighting selective retrieval, adaptation, and innovation to empower future generations of African artists and scholars. The findings underscore the potential of decolonized arts education to in still cultural pride, critical consciousness, and global relevance, thereby bridging historical rupture and enabling future agency.