Focus Symposium:

This three-day Symposium examines the diverse practices of artists, curators and collectors from Africa and the Diaspora. Through a series of panel discussions and video screenings, the Symposium will examine new global phenomena in contemporary artistic production from related scenes, markets and narratives.

All panels will take place in the Media Lounge on Pier 94.

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Thursday, March 3, 5:30-6:30PM

LOOKING BACK, LEADING THE WAY

PARTICIPANTS: El Anatsui, Artist, Ibrahim El-Salahi, Artist and Sam Nhlengethwa, Artist
MODERATOR: Bisi Silva, Founder and Artistic Director, Center for Contemporary Art, Lagos

As a part of The Armory Show’s Focus Symposium this panel brings together two of the most influential African artists living and creating today. Both Anatsui and Nhlengethwa have inspired a generation of young artists seeking to make their mark on the global stage. Bisi Silva will lead a discussion on their individual practices and how they continue to inspire artists working today.

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Saturday, March 5, 12:30-1:00PM

WELCOME

INTRODUCTION: Julia Grosse and Yvette Mutumba, Founders of Contemporary And (C&) and Curators, Focus: African Perspectives

Q&A session with commissioned artist Kapwani Kiwanga

1:00-1:30PM

A SPELL THAT FLOWS BOTH WAYS

Lecture-Performance by Kapwani Kiwanga, Armory Commissioned Artist

Kapwani Kiwanga‘s versatile practice takes shape through video, sound and performance, relying on ephemera and collective history to inform her work. A Spell That Flows Both Ways will be a debut performance by the Armory Commissioned Artist.

2:00-3:00PM

YOUNG GLOBAL CONTEMPORARIES

MODERATOR: Yves Makongo, Curator, Doual’Art
PARTICIPANTS: Nengi Omuku, Artist; Patrick Mudekereza, Cultural Producer and Writer and ruby onyinyechi amanze, Artist

A discussion between several emerging artists with African backgrounds about their individual practices, the challenges they encounter and their goals as a generation of young global contemporaries with African perspectives. In particular, this panel will address the challenges that are posed to each as they balance their time between supporting their local creative industries, while at the same time operating on the global stage.

4:00-5:00PM

ME/WE: CREATING COLLECTIVELY

with Jenifer Evans, Nile Sunset Annex / ملحق غروب على النيل , Francisco Vidal, e-Studio, Catinca Tabacaru, gallerist, moderated by Yvette Mutumba.

This talk aims to create a platform for an inspiring discussion between the different generations of artists and cultural producers from the continent and the Diaspora, investigating the role of collectives and international workshops in Africa such as Laboratoire Agit’Art, the Tenq, and Triangle Workshops. These spaces have served an extremely important role in the last few decades as crucial, innovative, avant-garde centers for artistic production. This panel will address how these places have come to be, and the evolving role they play in artistic production in Africa.

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Sunday, March 6, 2:00PM

REMARKS BY: JULIA GROSSE AND YVETTE MUTUMBA

2:30-3:30PM

COLLECTING AS AN ATTITUDE

MODERATOR: Natasha Becker, Senior Curator, Goodman Gallery
PARTICIPANTS: Kimberli Gant, Newark Museum, Pamela Joyner, collector, Kimberly Perry, collector

This panel brings together leading female curators and collectors to discuss the recent trends and interest in collecting work by artists from Africa and the Diaspora. Together these individuals represent a group of cultural leaders and patrons who are defining a generation of artists.

4:00-6:00PM

SECTION CINÉMA

A series of artist videos titled Section Cinéma, exclusively curated by South African artist Robin Rhode
INTRODUCTION: Zoe Whitley, Curator for International Art, Tate Modern

Section Cinéma is a program of video art curated by Robin Rhode and chosen from the South Africa-based Emile Stipp Collection, which has been instrumental in building an archive of contemporary video work by emerging African and Diasporic artists. Rhode titled his selection Section Cinéma after Marcel Broodthaers’ pivotal 1972 installation Musée d’Art Moderne, Département des Aigles, Section des Figures.

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