Curator’s Perspective: Paula Nascimento
In conversation with Tumelo Mosaka
*Seats are limited. Registration is required.
How can we understand curating as a spatial practice? In this Curator’s Perspective talk, Paula Nascimento—an architect, independent curator, and 2022 ICI Curatorial Research Fellow, currently based in Luanda, Angola—discusses her approach to curating as a geopolitical exercise. Her discussion will begin with her curation of the groundbreaking Angolan Pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale (which won the Golden Lion and was widely recognized for its nuanced reckoning with the complexities of urban environments), before addressing projects that span her career to explore how notions of space and territory inform her work. Nascimento will also highlight several ongoing artists’ projects that illustrate the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of her practice, which has been deeply shaped by artists’ perspectives on migration, conflict, and international relations.
Following the talk, Nascimento will be joined by curator Tumelo Mosaka to continue the conversation. Mosaka is a Johannesburg-born and New York City-based independent curator, and is also the Mellon Project Director in African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University. Mosaka’s interests span numerous global transnational artistic practices working within and outside museums with artists from Africa, the Caribbean, and North America.
This program is free and open to the public. Live ASL interpretation is available at this event. Please indicate in your RSVP if you require ASL interpretation.
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Paula Nascimento (b. Luanda, 1981) is an architect and independent curator based in Luanda, Angola. She is the co-founder of Beyond Entropy Africa (2010-16), a research studio that has worked in architecture, visual arts, and geopolitics. She has developed a series of artistic and curatorial projects including Luanda Encyclopedic City, the award-winning Angola Pavilion at the Biennial of Venice in 2013. As an independent curator, she has worked on interdisciplinary projects exploring themes related to post-colonial cities, and contemporary readings for historical themes. She has curated several exhibitions in Angola, South Africa, Portugal, Italy and has participated at Experimenta Design, Triennale di Milano, Bamako Biennial and the VI Lubumbashi Biennial. Since 2019 she has been curator of Foco África at Arco Lisboa. Paula is currently the chair of the artistic committee at Nesr Art Foundation and associate curator of the VII Lubumbabshi Biennale.
Tumelo Mosaka is a Johannesburg-born and New York City-based independent curator. He is the Mellon Project Director and Curator in African American and African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University, New York. Mosaka has worked within and outside museums exploring global transnational artistic practices especially from Africa, the Caribbean, and North America. He is the Resident Curator at Opa-locka Community Development Corporation in Miami, FL, and an advisor to Prospect.6, New Orleans, LA.
About this program
This program is the first in a series of collaborative programs produced by ICI and The Africa Center. The two organizations have entered into a multi-year partnership to produce public programs highlighting artistic and curatorial practices from the African continent and the Diaspora. ICI’s Curator’s Perspective series has been made possible, in part, by a grant from the James Howell Foundation and by generous contributions from the ICI Board of Trustees and ICI Access Fund. ICI’s public programs are supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.