The National Gallery of Jamaica is pleased to present the Global Conversations Series with its inaugural episode premiering on Friday April 16, 2021. Spanning four weeks, each episode will feature topical discourse between globally renowned artists, curators and thinkers. These discussions will be presented live on our YouTube channel and include a 30 minute segment for audience participation. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for notifications on the following series:
WEEK 1: Radical Art Practice in the 21st century
April 16, 2021 | 12 noon to 1.30 pm EST
Participants: Olu Oguibe, Ibrahim Mahama, Deborah Anzinger
Moderator: Petrina Dacres
What constitutes radical art practice in the 21st century especially in the wake of Black Lives Matter (BLM) and a global pandemic? What new forms and formations of art-making can we envisage today? BLM as a social movement originated in the USA but resonates globally, with ‘Black’ serving as a signifier of multiple alterities. A discussion between boundary-pushing, award-winning artist Olu Oguibe, Ghanaian wunderkind Ibrahim Mahama and the artist and artworld builder, Deborah Anzinger.
WEEK 2: The Post-Colonial Museum, Global Art and National Self-Definition
April 23, 2021 | 12 noon to 1.30 pm EST
Participants: Kobena Mercer, Partha Mitter
Moderator: O’Neil Lawrence
What role should museums and national galleries play in the context of globalizing art worlds? What are the implications for national self-definition as diasporas grow? A look at problems of representation, neo-colonialism, competing nationalisms and their impact on art institutions today. Eminent art critic Kobena Mercer in conversation with the author of Much Maligned Monsters, the celebrated art historian Partha Mitter.
WEEK 3: The Biennial and its Others
April 30, 2021 | 3.00 pm to 4.30 pm EST
Participants: David Scott, Bonaventure Nkidung, Zak Ove
Moderator: Nicole Smythe-Johnson
The venerable biennial model has become and remained de rigeur for transnational exhibitions of art. But are other models emerging in the 21st century? A frank discussion of the pros and cons of large-scale art spectacles in an era when audiences are far-flung and socially distanced between editor of Small Axe and curator of the forthcoming Kingston Biennial, David Scott; founder and artistic director of SAVVY Contemporary Berlin. Bonaventure Nkidung; and Zak Ové, artist extraordinaire and curator of Get Up, Stand Up Now.
WEEK 4: The Legacy of Okwui Enwezor
May 7 2021 | 12 noon to 1.30 pm EST
Participants: Mark Nash, Isaac Julien, Ute Meta Bauer
Moderator: Annie Paul
A titan who bestrode the global artworld, Okwui Enwezor famously altered its contours with his magisterial Documenta11. This panel brings together two of Enwezor’s Documenta co-curators Mark Nash and Ute Meta Bauer as well as one of the featured artists, the celebrated film-maker Isaac Julien, to discuss the Grief and Grievance exhibition at the New Museum and the current Documenta project memorializing Enwezor. The conversation will include Documenta11’s Créolité and Creolization platform held in St Lucia and Julien’s film, Paradise Omeros.
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