The Politics of Curating Contemporary African Art

Seminar room ERH | in English language

A presentation on curatorial work with key focus on the project Kaboo Ka Muwala (The Girl´s Basket), an exhibition on intra-African migrationwith Raphael Chikukwa, chief curator at the National Gallery ofZimbabwe.

The itinerant exhibition Kabbo ka Muwala explores the multitude of migration processes in and from southern and eastern Africa primarily through the work of artists from these regions. The artists address dimensions of migrants’ agency and identity, the emergence of transnational spaces as modes of cohabitation in local, regional and global contexts as well as experiences of violence and xenophobia.

Kabbo ka Muwala translates as “the girl’s basket”. The expression is understood across eastern Africa and refers to a traditional practice: in a basket, the bride transports presents to her new family and her parents in turn.

Metaphorically, the basket represents expectations and hopes, but also disappointments and setbacks, which come with marriage as well as with processes of migration. The exhibition was shown in Harare (Zimbabwe), is currently in Kampala (Uganda) and will open in September in Bremen (Germany) - http://kabbokamuwala.org