New Two-Volume Publication Highlights the Writings of Okwui Enwezor

The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, is pleased to announce the publication of Okwui Enwezor: Selected Writings, a two-volume collection edited by Terry Smith, Andrew W. Mellon Emeritus Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and Professor-at-Large at The Africa Institute, Sharjah, published by Duke University Press in August 2025 with the support of The Africa Institute and the Sharjah Art Foundation.

Titled Volume 1: Toward a New African Art Discourse and Volume 2: Curating the Postcolonial Condition, the collection brings together nearly three decades of writings by the late Okwui Enwezor, one of the most influential curators and theorists of contemporary art. Enwezor’s essays, drawn from exhibition catalogs, journals, curatorial statements, and interviews, reflect the depth of his intellectual contributions and his role in shaping global contemporary art discourse.

“This two-volume landmark collection arrives nearly six years after the art world lost one of its most significant and admired curators. Spanning a quarter century, during which Enwezor transformed curatorial and critical thinking, these two books are essential for their decolonial frameworks, ‘diasporic imagination’ and ‘New African Art Discourse’, which underpinned his life’s project,” said Marko Gluhaich in Frieze.

“This selection of Okwui Enwezor’s writings offers an intimate look into the beliefs that fueled his practice: those of plurality, fluidity, and openness. It is through these writings that we are able to stay the course of Enwezor’s incomparable vision and insist, as he did, on an expansive understanding of the world and all those who inhabit it,” said Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator, Studio Museum in Harlem.

Professor Terry Smith, a leading scholar of contemporary art and a long-time collaborator of Enwezor’s, frames the volumes by identifying two major phases in Enwezor’s thought: the articulation of a renewed African art discourse and the development of a postcolonial curatorial framework that foregrounds the diasporic imagination within global art histories.

This publication reflects The Africa Institute’s ongoing commitment to supporting critical scholarship in the arts and humanities. It also aligns with the mission of the Okwui Enwezor Postdoctoral Fellowship in Visual Culture, Performance Studies, and Critical Humanities, named in honor of Enwezor. The fellowship supports emerging scholars whose work engages with many of the themes explored in Enwezor’s writings.

Okwui Enwezor: Selected Writings is an important scholarly resource for students, researchers, curators, and practitioners working across contemporary art, visual culture, and postcolonial theory.

The volumes are available for purchase in print and as an e-book via Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook, Google Play, and Duke University Press. 

*Both quotes are reprinted from Duke University Press website.