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The Africa Institute was pleased to present its series, Book Conversations, which launched in summer 2021. The program aimed to highlight new books by African and Africanist authors in the fields of humanities, arts, and social sciences.

On May 19, 2021, at 6 pm (Gulf Standard Time), curator and author of the book “The Sphinx Contemplating Napoleon: Global Perspective on Contemporary Art and Difference,” Gilane Tawadros, was joined by Sarat Maharaj, Professor of Visual Art and Knowledge Systems at Malmö Art Academy, Sweden, to discuss her new book. This conversation was moderated by The Africa Institute Director, Salah M. Hassan.

Ten author-signed copies of the book were available for purchase at the Africa Hall starting on the date of the book discussion. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, please email info@theafricainstitute.org with your request to receive further information.

Book Synopsis

Anchored in artistic practice, this vibrant collection of essays and writings spans a period from 1992-2017 and the work of leading artists such as Adel Abdessemed, Richard Avedon, Sonia Boyce, Frank Bowling, Omer Fast, Mona Hatoum, Susan Hiller, Alfredo Jaar, Glenn Ligon and Shen Yuan. A key figure in British and international art, Gilane Tawadros draws difference to the surface, recuperating it as a potentially radical frame through which to understand contemporary art and the everyday world. Playing with forms of writing, from critical analyses to fictional narratives, the book functions as a practice-based meditation on how to write about contemporary art.

SPEAKERS

Gilane Tawadros

Gilane is a writer, curator and the chief executive at DACS. She was the founding Director of the Institute of International Visual Arts (Iniva) in London, chaired by Professor Stuart Hall, which, over a decade, achieved an international reputation as a ground-breaking cultural agency at the leading edge of artistic and cultural debates nationally and internationally. She has curated numerous exhibitions and has written extensively on contemporary art. In 2012, she was the first art historian to be appointed to the prestigious Blanche, Edith and Irving Laurie Chair in Women’s Studies, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Gilane is a Trustee and Vice-Chair of the Stuart Hall Foundation. She is a Trustee of the Stuart Croft Foundation, a member of the Whitechapel Art Gallery Editorial Board and serves on the Board of European Visual Arts (EVA) and on the Intellectual Property Office’s (IPO) Copyright Advisory Panel. In July 2020, Gilane was a speaker at The Africa Institute’s John Akomfrah Film Screening and Talk program.

Sarat Maharaj

Sarat Maharaj was born in South Africa and educated there as well as in the UK. Dr. Maharaj is a writer and curator. He was a co-curator of documenta11 and he curated ‘retinal.optical.visual.conceptual’ exhibition at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, in 2002, with Richard Hamilton and Ecke Bonk. Dr. Maharaj was also co-curator of Farewell to Postcolonialism, Guangzhou, in 2008, and Art, Knowledge and Politics, at the 29th Bienal de São Paulo in 2010. He was Chief Curator of the 2011 Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, Pandemonium: Art in a Time of Creativity Fever, and a peer advisor to the Sharjah Biennial 11 in 2013.

Between 1980 and 2005, he was Professor of History and Theory of Art at Goldsmiths, University of London. Dr. Maharaj was also the first Rudolf Arnheim Professor, Humboldt University, Berlin (2001–2002) and Research Fellow at the Jan Van Eyck Akademie, Maastricht (1999–2001).

Moderator

Salah M. Hassan

Salah M. Hassan is the Director of The Africa Institute, Sharjah, UAE. Read more.

The Africa Institute was pleased to present its series, Book Conversations, which launched in summer 2021. The program aimed to highlight new books by African and Africanist authors in the fields of humanities, arts, and social sciences.

The Africa Institute was pleased to present its series, Book Conversations, which launched in summer 2021. The program aimed to highlight new books by African and Africanist authors in the fields of humanities, arts, and social sciences.

On May 19, 2021, at 6 pm (Gulf Standard Time), curator and author of the book “The Sphinx Contemplating Napoleon: Global Perspective on Contemporary Art and Difference,” Gilane Tawadros, was joined by Sarat Maharaj, Professor of Visual Art and Knowledge Systems at Malmö Art Academy, Sweden, to discuss her new book. This conversation was moderated by The Africa Institute Director, Salah M. Hassan.

Ten author-signed copies of the book were available for purchase at the Africa Hall starting on the date of the book discussion. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, please email info@theafricainstitute.org with your request to receive further information.

Book Synopsis

Anchored in artistic practice, this vibrant collection of essays and writings spans a period from 1992-2017 and the work of leading artists such as Adel Abdessemed, Richard Avedon, Sonia Boyce, Frank Bowling, Omer Fast, Mona Hatoum, Susan Hiller, Alfredo Jaar, Glenn Ligon and Shen Yuan. A key figure in British and international art, Gilane Tawadros draws difference to the surface, recuperating it as a potentially radical frame through which to understand contemporary art and the everyday world. Playing with forms of writing, from critical analyses to fictional narratives, the book functions as a practice-based meditation on how to write about contemporary art.

SPEAKERS

Gilane Tawadros

Gilane is a writer, curator and the chief executive at DACS. She was the founding Director of the Institute of International Visual Arts (Iniva) in London, chaired by Professor Stuart Hall, which, over a decade, achieved an international reputation as a ground-breaking cultural agency at the leading edge of artistic and cultural debates nationally and internationally. She has curated numerous exhibitions and has written extensively on contemporary art. In 2012, she was the first art historian to be appointed to the prestigious Blanche, Edith and Irving Laurie Chair in Women’s Studies, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Gilane is a Trustee and Vice-Chair of the Stuart Hall Foundation. She is a Trustee of the Stuart Croft Foundation, a member of the Whitechapel Art Gallery Editorial Board and serves on the Board of European Visual Arts (EVA) and on the Intellectual Property Office’s (IPO) Copyright Advisory Panel. In July 2020, Gilane was a speaker at The Africa Institute’s John Akomfrah Film Screening and Talk program.

Sarat Maharaj

Sarat Maharaj was born in South Africa and educated there as well as in the UK. Dr. Maharaj is a writer and curator. He was a co-curator of documenta11 and he curated ‘retinal.optical.visual.conceptual’ exhibition at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, in 2002, with Richard Hamilton and Ecke Bonk. Dr. Maharaj was also co-curator of Farewell to Postcolonialism, Guangzhou, in 2008, and Art, Knowledge and Politics, at the 29th Bienal de São Paulo in 2010. He was Chief Curator of the 2011 Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, Pandemonium: Art in a Time of Creativity Fever, and a peer advisor to the Sharjah Biennial 11 in 2013.

Between 1980 and 2005, he was Professor of History and Theory of Art at Goldsmiths, University of London. Dr. Maharaj was also the first Rudolf Arnheim Professor, Humboldt University, Berlin (2001–2002) and Research Fellow at the Jan Van Eyck Akademie, Maastricht (1999–2001).

Moderator

Salah M. Hassan

Salah M. Hassan is the Director of The Africa Institute, Sharjah, UAE. Read more.

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