In collaboration with The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery and the Department of Art History and Archeology, Columbia University, The Walther Collection will present a symposium entitled Beyond the Frame: Contemporary Photography from Africa and the Diaspora.

The symposium brings together leading international scholars, curators, artists, and cultural producers to engage with the multiple perspectives, conceptual themes, and circumstances shaping the work of the current generation of African photographic and video artists.

The symposium will focus on individual artistic practices, while also considering the institutional and infrastructural contexts in which these practices emerge. Incorporating a wide range of speakers, Beyond the Frame will provide an opportunity for exchange, debate, and dialogue about critical issues in the field of contemporary photography in Africa and the Diaspora.

It is co-chaired by Chika Okeke-Agulu (Princeton University) and Kerryn Greenberg (Tate Modern).

Participants include Antawan Byrd (Northwestern University), Sandrine Colard (Columbia University), Andrew Esiebo (Artist), John Fleetwood (PHOTO), Emmanuel Iduma (School of Visual Arts), M. Neelika Jayawardane (SUNY Oswego), Karen Kedmey (Independent), Eva Langret (Tiwani Contemporary), Missla Libsekal (Another Africa), Dawit L. Petros (Artist), Allison Moore (University of South Florida), Yvette Mutumba (Contemporary And), John Peffer (Ramapo College), Zina Saro-Wiwa (Boys’ Quarters), Z.S. Strother (Columbia University), Drew Thompson (Bard College), Artur Walther (The Walther Collection), and Brendan Wattenberg (Aperture Magazine).

This half-day event, co-organized with Columbia University and hosted on its campus, coincides with the exhibition Recent Histories, curated by Joshua Chuang, as well as with The Expanded Subject: New Perspectives in Photographic Portraiture from Africa, curated by Joshua I. Cohen, Sandrine Colard, and Giulia Paoletti.

The symposium « Beyond the Frame: Contemporary Photography from Africa and the Diaspora« , will be held on Friday, October 21, 2016, from 1pm to 6:30pm, in 501 Schermerhorn Hall, Columbia University. It will be followed by a reception and viewing of « The Expanded Subject: New Perspectives in Photographic Portraiture from Africa » at The Wallach Art Gallery, which is located on the 8th floor of Schermerhorn Hall.

Requires free RSVPs online via the Wallach website: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/wallach/events/index.html

PROGRAM

1:00 pm
Welcome & Introductions
Artur Walther Founder, The Walther Collection, and Z.S. Strother, Riggio Professor of African Art, Columbia University

Session 1 – Artistic Practices

1:30 pm
Opening remarks by Session Chair
Chika Okeke-Agulu, Associate Professor of African and African Diaspora Art, Princeton University

1:40 pm
The Expanded Subject: New Perspectives in Photographic Portraiture from Africa
Sandrine Colard, PhD Candidate, Columbia University

2:00 pm
Itinerancy Through the Lens
M. Neelika Jayawardane, Associate Professor of English, State University of New York-Oswego
Dawit L. Petros, Visual Artist
Moderated by Drew Thompson, Assistant Professor of Africana and Historical Studies, Bard College

2:30 pm
New Memories, New Media
Andrew Esiebo, Multimedia artist and photographer
Zina Saro-Wiwa, Multimedia artist and filmmaker Moderated by Karen Kedmey, Writer and arts administrator

3:00 pm
Remarks by Chair, Questions, and Discussion

3:30 pm
BREAK

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Session 2 – Contexts

4:00 pm
Opening remarks by Session Chair
Kerryn Greenberg, Curator (International Art), Tate Modern

4:15 pm
Platforms for African Photography
Antawan Byrd, PhD candidate, Northwestern University
John Fleetwood, Director, PHOTO, Johannesburg
Eva Langret, Tiwani Contemporary, London
Artur Walther, Founder, The Walther Collection
Moderated by Allison Moore, Assistant Professor, African and Contemporary Art History, University of South Florida

4:50 pm
Publishing and Criticism of African Photography
Emmanuel Iduma, Fiction writer and art critic
Missla Libsekal, Founder, Another Africa
Yvette Mutumba (via skype), Curator, Contemporary And
John Pe er, Associate Professor of Contemporary/Nonwestern Art History, Ramapo College Moderated by Brendan Wattenberg, Managing Editor, Aperture Magazine

5:30 pm
Remarks by Chair, Questions, and Discussion

6:00 pm
Closing Remarks
Deborah Cullen, Director & Chief Curator, The Wallach Art Gallery

6:30 pm
Reception at The Wallach Art Gallery, which will be open for viewing « The Expanded Subject: New Perspectives in Photographic Portaiture from Africa »
8th Floor, Schermerhorn Hall

Beyond the Frame is organized by Joshua Chuang, Evelyn Owen, and Oluremi C. Onabanjo for The Walther Collection and Giulia Paoletti, Joshua I. Cohen, and Sandrine Colard for The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery and the Department of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University.