Exhibitions

Congo as Fiction: Art Worlds between Past and Present is still on view at the Museum Rietberg in Zurich, Switzerland until March 15, 2020

Up to the present day, the Congo serves as a screen for the projection of Western as well as African ideas and fictions. The Democratic Republic of the Congo is famous for its vibrant art scene. Nowhere else in Africa is artistic creativity so diverse, inventive, and at the pulse of time. Still, in the past, too, people in the Congo brought forth impressive masks, figures, and designer pieces, many of which today rank as icons of African art. Starting point of the exhibition are objects and photographs brought home by the art anthropologist Hans Himmelheber (1908–2003) from his travels in the Congo in 1938/39. For the first time, historical masterpieces and photographs are being juxtaposed with contemporary artworks in an exhibition. Notably, the exhibition avoids a one-sided Western view on traditional African art by placing its focus on renowned contemporary Congolese artists, and shows how artists critically deal with and assess the repercussions of colonialism, Christian proselytization, and global trade.

Jefferson Pinder: Flash Point is still on view at the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco, United States until March 28, 2020

The performance work captured in the videos is associated with Pinder’s cathartic 2019 Red Summer Road Trip, a journey he undertook on the 100th anniversary of the 1919 violence. Pinder explores the current racialized landscape with his crew of performers to see what has changed in a century—and what has not. From Chicago, Illinois to Ellisville, Mississippi, revisited sites of terror are host to an exploration of the hidden histories that underpin the African American plight. Flash Point brings disparate locations and events into a shared space where past injustices meet contemporary forms of perseverance. Jefferson Pinder’s work provokes commentary about race and struggle. Focusing primarily on performance and object making, Pinder investigates identity through the most dynamic circumstances and materials.

Interiorities is still on view at Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany until March 29, 2020

Our present is characterized by an increasing externalization of the interior. We actively publish details of our private lives on social media and invite them to be scrutinized, shared and rated. Despite this development of an almost pornographic exhibitionism of the individual, it becomes increasingly unclear which political attitudes, historical connections, and even which mental states or social ties actually make up their identity. So what happens inside us? Taking the historical subject of interior painting as a point of departure, the exhibition investigates the texture of a transnational and multiple identity that is at the same time fragmented and complex. In the works of the artists, migration and transcultural identity play just as much a role as historical entanglements. They deal with the interior of the imagination, as well as with the interior as a real setting, as a private retreat or shelter, or as a space with the potential to reflect and change the social and political zeitgeist.

Biennials

FotoFest Biennial 2020 will open at various locations in Houston, TX, United States from March 8 to April 19, 2020

In this 18th edition, the FotoFest biennial entitled “African Cosmologies: Photography, Time, and the Other” will focus on artists of Africa and its diaspora. The biennial is curated by Mark Sealy MBE, a British curator, writer, and cultural producer with a special interest in the relationship between photography and social change, identity politics and human rights. Since 1991, Sealy has been the director of Autograph ABP, the London-based non-profit photographic arts agency dedicated to highlighting issues of identity, representation, human rights and social justice. Formerly known as the Association of Black Photographers, Autograph ABP is an advocate of human rights worldwide, hosting exhibitions on the subjects of Pan African politics, and the photographic legacy of lynching in the United States, among others. African Cosmologies will feature over 30 artists from across the continent and its diaspora, making it one of the world’s largest exhibitions of African photography.

Art Fairs

The Armory Show will open at Piers 90 and 94 in New York City, United States from March 5-8, 2020

The 2020 edition will build upon the success of the 2019 fair with an expanded curatorial program and a more integrated presentation of modern and contemporary artwork. New developments include the debut of a third curated exhibitor section, Perspectives, replacing the Insights section and dedicated to historical material viewed through a contemporary lens. In addition, for the first time in the fair’s history, an entire pier will be devoted to curator-led initiatives, with Pier 90 encompassing Perspectives, the Focus section, and a selection of Platform projects. Under the direction of Nicole Berry for the third consecutive year, the Armory spans an all-female leadership team.