Solo Exhibitions

Kudzanai-Violet Hwami is still on view at Kunsthaus Pasquart in Biel, Switzerland until June 12, 2022

Using memories, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami visits places she encountered as a child in post-colonial Zimbabwe and creates a parallel universe from them, revolving around a futuristic narrative of the country. In her work, the artist plays with the idea of an African utopia in which there is no space, no place, and no borders, while at the same time referring to established cultures and traditions. Many images in her works are influenced by the growing popularity of subcultures, such as Afro-punk and grunge culture in Kenya and South Africa. Other influences from music, such as ZimHeavy and Afrobeats, literature, and her own ongoing journey of self-discovery also form important sources for her work. The inclusion of random images found on social media as a further starting point is an invitation to the free play of the imagination, while the autobiographical material remains a source of reference.

Wole Lagunju: What will you do with your own Aje? is still on view at Montague Contemporary in New York, United States until June 18, 2022

Montague Contemporary presents Wole Lagunju’s first solo exhibition in New York City, featuring a body of new works exploring a contemporary interpretation of Yoruba culture through his unique form of Onaism. As a proud Yoruba culture bearer with artistic gifts and powers – hence the crafting of the rhetorical question in the exhibition title: what will you do with your own Aje? It is a highly provocative title resulting from a series of conversations between Wole Lagunju and Montague Hermann, on the notions of artistic creativity and spiritual powers in Yoruba cultural landscape. Aje makes visible the boundaries of strange dichotomies: the real and the imagined; the deeply spiritual and the vigorously arcane; the frightfully terrifying and the seriously amusing and their ghoulish articulation in Yoruba religious and cultural landscape.

Sandra Poulson: Economy of the Dust is still on view at V.O Curations in London, United Kingdom until June 30, 2022

In Luanda, the dust is a stable and reliable resource, while at the same time many jobs and daily activities are focused on the effort to erase any traces of it. Referencing AbdouMaliq Simone in thinking of the dust as an accidental gift for the city, Poulson uses this narrative to think about how something seemingly unwanted is an essential part that shapes the local society. Dust, or more the act of removal of it, is here a source of income, a commodity, a border, and a signifier of economic and social status. It dictates the choreography of urban life through the endless looped activities associated with the impossible task of erasing it. Structured around moments of meeting and intersecting, Economy of the Dust references the elementary architectural language of Luanda – objects, environments and situations that form the city. Juxtaposing elements of opposite qualities and characteristics, the works share stories of restriction, access, friction and hope.

Group Exhibitions

A Point Of Departure is still on view at Ebony/Curated in Cape Town, South Africa until June 26, 2022

A Point of Departure, curated by Christina Fortune, sets itself the task of considering the ways in which social, cultural and political life continue to move and change, despite, and because of, ongoing forms of oppression shaping modern life. With works across media from Xhanti Zwelendada, Wooju Lee, Rory Emmett, Mikhalia Petersen, Jabu Nadia Newman, Haneem Christian and Aviwe Plaatjie, A Point of Departure employs an array of visual and conceptual strategies in asserting presence that go beyond easy, broad readings of preconceived identities. In doing so, the show considers how we use images to challenge the conditions which have created the necessity for identification. And more specifically, A Point of Departure reflects on the ways that, when intentionally played with, the burden of identity may move and shapeshift, becoming a tool of collectivity and belonging.

Workshops

Future of Africa-based Curatorial Practice Workshop will be held at the Harvard Art Museums in Cambridge, United States from June 23-24, 2022

During this workshop, the participants will explore the state of curatorial practice in Africa and identify trends and areas for growth. The objective is to examine key themes in curatorial practice from an African perspective, survey the landscape of curatorial enterprise review models that have emerged over the past two decades, and to inquire how institutions like Harvard – with world-class museums and galleries and a leading Center for African Studies – can be partners in the research and study of African artistic and curatorial thought and practice. The organizers hope people will join them in this timely discussion on how to invest in African art curators intellectually by incorporating them into the academic environment of the university and its teaching and research mission, and technically by working through museums and galleries at Harvard to expand their curatorial capacity and professional networks.