Senam Okudzeto

Senam Okudzeto (born 1972) is an American and British artist and educator who lives and works in Basel, London, Ghana and New York City.[1]

Life and work

Okudzeto was born in Chicago,[1] to an American mother and Ghanaian father and grew up between London, Chicago and Lagos. She received a bachelor's degree from the Slade School of Fine Art in 1995 and a master's degree from the Royal College of Art in 1997. Okudzeto continued with post-graduate studies in the independent study program at the Whitney Museum of American Art[2] and is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in the program of cultural studies at the London Consortium and at Birkbeck, University of London.

Her work incorporates writing, scholarly research and art practice within a wide range of mediums, including painting, film, installation and social sculpture to articulate her methodological practice of “Afro-Dada”.[3] It explores global connectivity, modernity, and the relationships between Africa, the diasporas, and the rest of the world.[4] Her work forges narrative connections between unexpected vectors, an ongoing exploration of identity politics, material culture and critical responses to previously overlooked socio-economic and political histories. Her installations are designed to represent forgotten or unnoticed forms of material and architectural culture as carriers of lost or hidden histories, especially stories about the genesis of contemporary West Africa and its diaspora. Interwoven into these broader themes are ideas such as economics as an archive of social relations and readings of Lacan in relation to race, performance and the gendered body.[5] Okudzeto's practice locates unexpected juxtapositions in the material culture of post-independence West Africa's modernist narratives and her identity as a West African who is also a European and of U.S. American descent.

Okudzeto has published a number of texts and peer reviewed essays and has served on the editorial board of the CAA publication Art Journal (2005–2009) and taught in a range of diverse fields, including African studies, art, architectural history at a wide range of institutions including The Kunsthistorisches Seminar, University of Basel (2015), at Harvard University (2004), Loyola University, Occidental College and the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Basel, Switzerland as well as institutions across Europe, West Africa and the USA.

She was the 2018–2019 Visiting Professor at École nationale supérieure d'arts de Paris-Cergy|, where she taught a theoretical graduate research seminar "Counter-Histories of a Continent; Making, Mapping, Recovering and Reviewing" which "instead of outlining an “African Art History” (asked) students (to) examine a history of Africa as constructed by artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers. This paradigm shift in research methodology attempts to “counter” stereotypes through an analysis of constructions of the image of Africa in the past 100 years, artifacts made both in and outside the geographical boundaries of the continent".[6]

Since 1998, Okudzeto has developed the ‘conceptual drawing’ workshops incorporating practical and theoretical approaches to drawing,[7] most recently taught at Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Arts de Paris-Cergy (ENSAPC), The University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Yaba College of Technology as part of the international exchange program she organized as the ENSAPC visiting professor during 2018 and 2019).[8]

She is the founder and administrative Director of the partially-dormant NGO Art in Social Structures (AiSS), a donor member society run and funded by artists with the aim of creating and supporting heritage initiatives in Ghana.[9] As Director of AiSS she co-organised and chaired Across the Board, a two-year project by Tate Modern in Ghana (2013–2014) that "provides an organic and experimental platform for emerging artists and explores recent artistic practices in Africa and its Diaspora",[10] realized in collaboration with curator Elvira Dyangani Osei and the Nubuke foundation Ghana.[11][12][13] She also served as a board member on the Global Agenda Council for the Role of the Arts in Society at the World Economic Forum, Geneva (2012–2014).[14]

Residencies and awards

Okudzeto has been artist in residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem (2000-2001) and the Stiftung Laurenz Haus in Basel (2002) and the BINZ39 residency in Zurich (2003). She was a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University from 2003 to 2004.[15] Okudzeto received a Pollock-Krasner Award in 2002[2] and was awarded the work-grant from Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt in 2005 and again in 2018[16]

She was awarded the Edith Bloom/Jesse Howard Junior Rome Prize fellowship at the American Academy in Rome 2015–2016 for her project "Afro-Dada Glossolalia"[17].[18][19] In 2017 she received a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies for her project Geomancy, Modernity and Memory, Unofficial and Unrecognized Historic Civic Centers in Ghana.[20]

Selected exhibitions
  • 2001: Freestyle, The Studio Museum in Harlem, curated by Thelma Golden, New York, USA[21]
  • 2001: For the Record: Julie Mehretu, Senam Okudzeto and Nadine Robinson, The Studio Museum in Harlem, NYC, USA[22]
  • 2003: Fiction ou Realite: Goddy Leye, Omer Fast, Senam Okudzeto, Kunsthalle Fribourg, Switzerland[23][24]
  • 2003: Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, New Museum, New York, USA, traveled to: Barbican Center, London (2004); Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco (2004)[25]
  • 2005: Africa Remix, curated by Simon Njami, Marie-Laure Bernadac, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France[26]
  • 2006: Dak’art Biennale, Senegal (representing the US and Diaspora), Dakar, Senegal[27]
  • 2007: Art in Social Structures; Godfried Donkor, Lyle Ashton Harris, Senam Okudzeto, Hawa Nicole Olai, curated by Senam Okudzeto, Alliance Francaise, Accra, Ghana[28]
  • 2007: Senam Okudzeto, Portes-Oranges, International Project, PS1 MoMA, NYC, USA[29][30]
  • 2009: Capitalism and Schizophrenia, Kunstraum Lakeside, Klagenfurt, Austria[31]
  • 2011: Dance, Draw, Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, Boston, USA[32]
  • 2012: The Progress of Love, curated by Kristina Van Dyke, Bisi Silva and Susan Sutton, Menil Collection, Houston, USA[33]
  • 2014: The Politics of Food, Delphina Foundation, London, UK[34]
  • 2015: Nero Su Bianco, American Academy in Rome, Italy[35]
  • 2015: Saltwater: A Theory of Thought Forms, 14th Istanbul Biennale, curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Istanbul, Turkey[36]
  • 2016: Cinque Mostre 2016 – Across the Board; Parts of a Whole, Ilaria Gianni with Saverio Verini, American Academy in Rome, Italy[37]
  • 2016: Dada Afrika. Dialogue with the Other, Museum Rietberg, Zurich, Switzerland[38]
  • 2016: Shifting Views: People & Politics in Contemporary African Art, curated by Shannen Hill, with Kevin Tervala, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, USA[39]
  • 2018: Black Value, curated by Janine Gäelle Dieudji and Justin Randolph Thompson, Fondazione Biagiotti Progetto Arte, Florence, Italy[40]
  • 2019: Counter Histories of a Continent, curated by Senam Okudzeto, Alliance Française de Lagos, Ikoyi, Nigeria[41]
  • 2019: Blind Date, Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt, curated by Elise Lammer, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland[42]
  • 2019: We Wanted the Object to be the Subject (Before We Wanted the Reverse), curated by Claire Hoffmann, Centre culturel suisse, Paris, France[43]

Selected writings and publications

Senam Okudzeto, “Remembering African Cities: Rethinking Urban Conservation as Radical Public History", in: Historic Cities: Issues in Urban Conservation, Eds. Cody & Siravo, Readings in Conservation Series, The Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, 2019.[44] Senam Okudzeto, “Emotive Histories; The Politics of Remembering Slavery in Contemporary Ghana”, in: Atlantic Studies, Vol. 9, Issue 3, Routledge, 2012, pp. 337–361.[45]

Senam Okudzeto et al., “Feminist Time: A Conversation, Rosalyn Deutsch, Aruna D'Souza, Miwon Kwon, Ulrike Müller, Mignon Nixon, Senam Okudzeto”, in: Grey Room, Spring 2008, No. 31, Inc. and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, pp. 32–67.[46]

Senam Okudzeto, “Lyle Ashton Harris”, in: Aperture, issue 218 (Queer), Spring 2015, Aperture Foundation, Inc., New York, pp. 76–83.[47]  

gollark: The what?
gollark: Then a less general one since that took unboundedly large amounts of time to run.
gollark: Due to quirkiness with my design process, instead of starting with "calculator" I started with "highly general pattern matching and reduction engine".
gollark: osmarkscalculator™ is actually\* the closest\*\* available\*\*\* thing to Macron.
gollark: It would be "Macron" in that it would:- have macros- use "Macron" syntax and not Lisp

References
  1. "Senam Okudzeto". Fri Art Kunsthalle Fribourg.
  2. "Radcliff Institute for Advanced Studies Fellowship Program". Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. March 16, 2012. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  3. "Interview with Senam Okudzeto "Portes Oranges"". Youtube.
  4. Van Dyke, Kristina (2012). The Progress of Love. Houston and St. Louis: Menil Collection and Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts. p. 182.
  5. Ashton Harris, Lyle (2008). "A Conversation". Lyle Ashton Harris: Blow up.
  6. "Counter-histories of a continent - Conceptual Drawing Workshop, Research and Art Exhibition in Nsukka, Abeokuta and Lagos".
  7. "2882 - CC Suisse - Senam Okudzeto".
  8. "Counter-histories of a continent – Conceptual Drawing Workshop, Research and Art Exhibition in Nsukka, Abeokuta and Lagos". Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Arts de Paris-Cergy (ENSAPC). Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  9. "Art in Social Structures (AiSS)". Art in Social Structures (AiSS).
  10. "Across the Board Event Schedule". Tate Modern. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  11. "Project: Across the Board". Tate Modern. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  12. "Nubuke Foundation". Nubuke Foundation. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  13. "Across the Board Programme" (PDF). Tate Modern. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  14. "World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2013 – Arts and Culture" (PDF). World Economic Forum. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  15. https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/people/senam-okudzeto
  16. "Jurybericht 2018". Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  17. "Senam Okudzeto - Afro-Dada-Glossolalia | American Academy in Rome".
  18. "Senam Okudzeto | American Academy in Rome".
  19. "Senam Okudzeto". American Academy in Rome.
  20. "Grantee Project 2017: Senam Okudzeto: Geomancy, Modernity, and Memory: Unofficial and Unrecognized Historic Civic Centers in Ghana". Graham Foundation. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  21. Group, Vibe Media (May 2001). "The New Masters". VIBE: 139. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
  22. "Art Daily". Art Daily. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  23. "Omer Fast, Goddy Leye, Senam Okudzeto". Art Log.
  24. "Fri Art". Art Mag Museums Suisse.
  25. "Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo Kuti". New Museum. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  26. "Africa Remix". Centre Pompidou. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  27. "Biennale Dakar". Biennale Dakar. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  28. "Art in Social Structures Exhibition".
  29. "International and National Projects Spring 2007: Joe Deutch, Stefan Eins, McKendree Key, Mark Lewis, David Maljkovic, and Senam Okudzeto". MoMA. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  30. "MoMA PS1". MoMA PS1. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  31. "Capitalism and Schizophrenia". Lakeside Kunstraum. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  32. "Dance, Draw". Institute of Contemporary Art Boston. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  33. "The Progress of Love". Menil Collection. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  34. "The Politics Of Food". Delfina Foundation. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  35. "Nero Su Bianco". American Academy in Rome. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  36. "14th Istanbul Biennial. SALTWATER: A Theory of Thought Forms". Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  37. "Cinque Mostre 2016 - Across the Board: Parts of a Whole". American Academy in Rome. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  38. "Dada Afrika. Dialogue with the Other". Museum Rietberg. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  39. "Shifting Views Details | Baltimore Museum of Art". artbma.org'. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  40. "Black Value. Sanford Biggers, Abigail DeVille, Kevin Jerome Everson, Lyle Ashton Harris, Beverly McIver, Senam Okudzeto, Nari Ward". Biagiotti Progetto Arte. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  41. "Counter-histories of a continent – Conceptual Drawing Workshop, Research and Art Exhibition in Nsukka, Abeokuta and Lagos". ENSAPC. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  42. "Kunstkredit Basel-Stadt, Blind Date". Kunsthalle Basel. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  43. "Senam Okudzeto". Centre culturel suisse Paris. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  44. "Historic Cities: Issues in Urban Conservation". Getty. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  45. Okudzeto, Senam (2012). "Emotive histories: the politics of remembering slavery in contemporary Ghana". Atlantic Studies. 9 (3): 337–361. doi:10.1080/14788810.2012.698098.
  46. "The Grey Room". doi:10.1162/grey.2008.1.31.32. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  47. "Aperture". Jstor. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
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