Critique

(clockwise) Manyaku Mashilo, Passage to Prayer (detail), 2023. Credit: Hayden Phipps & Southern Guild Archives. Courtesy of the artist; Tatenda Chidora, Self isolation II, 2021. Ilford Gold fibre Pearl 290gsm, 102cm x 132cm. Courtesy of the artist; Anaïs Cheleux, Mas Maten, Guadeloupe, shot on digital camera, 2016. Courtesy of the artist; Glicéria Tupinambá, Manto tupinambá [Tupinambá Mantle], 2023. Courtesy of the artist. Foto: Glicéria Tupinambá; Elizabeth Catlett, African American, 2009, MUSEUM MMK FÜR MODERNE KUNST, © Elizabeth Catlett Family Trust / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2023, photo: Axel Schneider.

Year-in-Review

C& Highlights of 2024

It has been another year of expanding networks, fostering dynamic collaborations, and producing exceptional art writing.

Myles Igwe, Ndi Nwanyi , 2024. Installation view at 14th Recontres de Bamako. Courtesy of the  Bamako Biennale.

14e Biennale africaine de la photographie

L’esprit résilient de la Biennale de Bamako

Le principal festival de photographie du continent est un cri à l'autonomie africaine et une plateforme pour de nouvelles voix, écrit Obidike Okafor.

Wangechi Mutu, A Palace in Pieces, 2024. Installation view at 15th Dakar Biennale. Courtesy of DakArtNews.

Dak'Art 2024

Une plateforme puissante qui reste ouverte au dialogue critique autour de l’art, de l’écologie et de l’histoire

Haja Fanta analyse la célèbre biennale et en interroge la cohérence conceptuelle tout en admirant sa composition.

Still from Dahomey by Matt Diop.

Restitution

Tracing the Then and Now of Restitution Through Mati Diop’s Documentary Fantasy Dahomey

Can the French restitution of some of Benin’s royal treasures constitute a new beginning? Mati Diop’s new film, Dahomey, delves this question.

Tesfaye Urgessa, detail  from on of his works of the series

60th Venice Biennale

Breaking New Ground with an Ethiopian Pavilion

For Dagmawit Abebaw Hunz the inaugural pavilion of Ethiopia shines, but also brings up colonial wounds and art-world inequalities.

Helena Uambembe, In memory We love, 2022. Installation view at Njabala Foundation. Photo: Royal Kenogo.

Njabala Foundation

An Exhibition that Welcomed Grief at the Door and Pulled out a Chair

On a curatorial trip to Kampala, curator Rosie Olang’ Odhiambo shares her impressions in a letter to a loved one in Nairobi.

Installation view of Giants: Art from the Dean Collection. Photo: Paula Abreu Pita.

Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys

A Show of Parallels and Superlatives

C&'s Nan Collymore visited the highly acclaimed exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum and found many things to fall in love with.

Julien Creuzet. Photo: Cristian Baena.

60e Biennale de Venise

Un voyage dans l’esprit et l’œuvre de Julien Creuzet

Deux rédacteurs de C&AL reviennent sur leur récent voyage de presse en Martinique aux côtés de l'artiste et des conservateurs du Pavillon français.

Karen Winter Photography/ Courtesy of the French Institute of South Africa

“Reimagining Heritage, Archives and Museums: Today/Tomorrow”

What Needs to be Considered When Running a Museum in (South) Africa?

Vusumzi Nkomo attended a conference in Cape Town that explored multiple aspects of creating a fairer, more sustainable art ecosystem.

Sonya Clark, Detail of Madam C.J. Walker. Photo: Grid_o2. Courtesy of High Museum of Art.

High Museum of Art

Eyes Not Looking Just Right: On Sonya Clark’s Mid-Career Survey

Enos Nyamor visited "We Are Each Other" in Atlanta focused on the Clark's community-centric and participatory projects.

Yussef Agbo-Ola

Lagos Biennial 2024

A Refuge of Sorts

Joseph Omoh Ndukwu examines the 4th edition of Nigeria's seminal biennial, which aimed to create a space to dream alternate paths in a systemic crisis

P. Staff, In Ekstase, 2023, detail, in: P. Staff, In Ekstase, Kunsthalle Basel, 2023, photo: Philipp Hänger / Kunsthalle Basel

Kunsthalle Basel

Où est votre corps ? P. Staff et Tiona Nekkia McClodden : ouvrir l’espace à la vulnérabilité

Lors d’un séjour de recherche en Suisse, Khanya Mashabela s’est intéressée aux œuvres des deux artistes exposées à la Kunsthalle Basel.