Curatorial Research

East African Artists in Conversation

2022 – 2023

A British Council Funded Project

Conversations with black womxn artists addressing issues of climate justice and the politics of representation

ABOUT THE RESEARCH

In November 2022, 10 early to mid-career curators from England, Ethiopia, Kenya, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Wales - including Autograph’s curator Bindi Vora - joined British Council on a delegation to the Venice Biennale, Milk of Dreams.

Together, the curators participated in an interactive programme exploring the question “how do curatorial and artistic practices allow for a space for radical imagination that centres black womxn artists?” This question prompted reflective and collective discussions in relation to the work they do and how they use their curatorial practices as a space to articulate new ideas, discourses and transnational dialogues for social and political change.

Following the delegation, the curators were invited to undertake further research and development to interrogate what the term ‘representation’ means today.

Vora interviewed four artists with ties to East Africa who focus on issues of climate justice and the environment in their work, alongside a broader framework examining the politics of representation. Their conversations have been published to Autograph's website, freely accessible to all. 

Texts

Aesthetic Justice: Love and Language in Exile

In conversation with Ugandan artist Bathsheba Okwenje

Read interview | 14 min read

Tricking the Colonial Tricksters: Intervening in Ethnographic Space

A conversation with Kenyan artist and curator Syowia Kyambi

Read interview | 14 min read

Telling Tales of Black Women’s Bodies in Rural Landscapes

In conversation with UK based artist and curator Wanja Kimani

Read interview | 12 min read

Envisaging Genealogies and Disability Justice

A conversation with British Mauritian artist Sabrina Tirvengadum

Read interview | 11 min read



The Biennials Connect delegation



Syowia Kyambi, I Have Heard Many Things About You, 2016

Bathsheba Okwenje, from the series Gang Kikome and Other Things We Left Behind, 2018 -

Wanja Kimani, Weathering Bodies [still], 2022

Sabrina Tirvengadum, If We Were Marrier d’Unienville, 2023

a british cOuncil funded Project

Banner image: Syowia Kyambi, I Have Heard Many Things About You, performance still [detail], Bremen, Germany, 2016. Video produced by Cantufan Klose.

Images on page: 1) The Biennials Connect delegation. Image credit: Akya Sy. 2)  Syowia Kyambi, I Have Heard Many Things About You, performance still, Bremen, Germany, 2016. Video produced by Cantufan Klose. 3) Wanja Kimani, Weathering Bodies [film still], 2022. Courtesy the artist. 4) Bathsheba Okwenje, from the series Gang Kikome and Other Things We Left Behind, 2018 - 5) Sabrina Tirvengadumrem in collaboration with Mark Allred, If We Were Marrier d’Unienville, 2023.