Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography (2006)

Snap Judgments was the first major US exhibition in a decade to examine contemporary African photography. It presented a fresh viewpoint of African artists using photography to understand the massive changes taking place in African economic, social and cultural life. The exhibition also examined the ways in which African photographic art has shifted away both African traditions and Western influences to explore new aesthetic territories. In fact, it highlighted a move from the commercial studio portraiture that predominated in Africa several decades ago to reveal a new emphasis on conceptual art, documentary, and fashion photography.

Snap Judgments featured approximately 250 works – using photography, multimedia installation, and performance art – organized around four themes that reflect the questioning of the 35 participating African artists: landscape, urban formations, body & identity, and history & representation. It was organised by Okwui Enwezor who is a Nigerian independent curator and art historian widely recognized as an expert on contemporary African art. The exhibition toured in New York, Miami, Memphis, Ottawa, and Amsterdam, between 2006 and 2008.

Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent (2004)

Africa Remix was the largest exhibition of contemporary African art ever seen in Europe. It was part of an effort to give better recognition and visibility to contemporary art from Africa. The exhibition featured 88 artists from Africa and African diaspora showing almost 200 artworks, crafted in the last 10 years, covering photography, painting, drawing, sculpture, assemblage, video, film, installation as well as furniture design, fashion, music, and literature. Through their artworks, the artists questioned the concepts of identity, violence, globalization and religion.

Under the artistic direction of Simon Njami – a Cameroonian independent curator, writer, and art critic being among the first ones to present African contemporary artists on international events – and with contribution from other curators, Africa Remix focuses on the link between art and life as reflected by each work. It was organized around three themes: History & Identity, City & Land, and Body & Soul. The international touring exhibition started in Düsseldorf, and then successively traveled to London, Paris, Tokyo, Stockholm, and Johannesburg, between 2004 and 2007.

The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945-1994 (2001)

The Short Century was the first major survey to examine the brief period of liberation from the yoke of colonialism beginning in 1945 to the collapse of the Apartheid followed by Nelson Mandela’s election as president of South Africa in 1994. It explored how liberation movements and African art have been bound together in the forging of new cultural identities. The exhibition illustrated the history of African independence – and the resulting postcolonial questions of identity, ethnicity, nationality, diaspora, and citizenship – as an ongoing narrative told from the vantage point of Africa.

Featuring more than 400 works of 50 artists from 22 countries, The Short Century explored African culture through art, film, photography, graphics, architecture, literature, music, and theater. Curated by Okwui Enwezor, the exhibition was a contemporary biography of Africa in the post-war period. Enwezor and his curatorial team revealed the significance of African art and culture in a global context and the questions that continue to haunt the present-day Africa. The exhibition began its international tour in Munich, and then traveled to Berlin, Chicago, and New York City, between 2001 and 2002.

Africas: El Artista y la Ciudad [Africas: The Artist and the City] (2001)

Africas was an important exhibition organized in Barcelona by Pep Subiros, a Spanish philosopher, writer and curator. He wanted to have a look through the eyes of contemporary African artists at the changing reality of this continent’s major metropolises. He also wanted to change the Western perception of Africa by showing how African artists represent the struggle between traditional cultural forms and new concerns stemming from urbanization. So, the exhibition explored an art closely related to urban life and reflecting the individuality of their creators.

Africas focuses on several African metropolises including Abidjan, Dakar, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Harare, and Lagos, as well as African presence in Paris and London. The exhibition featured 24 artists with a selection of nearly 200 works including photography, painting, sculpture, cinema, video, and installations. There was a particular emphasis on photography, in view of its importance on the African art scene.

Sources: Contemporary African Art Since 1980, Okwui Enwezor and Chika Okeke-Agulu, Damiani, 2009