"African Art, What For?"
Is this question still valid today? Can't we just talk about art?

This IKT Lab takes place during the exhibition "Present Tense: Photographs from Southern 

Africa" (18 September-14 December 2013) curated by António Pinto Ribeiro. 

An IKT Lab is a group encounter focused on a question of particular interest for the 

curatorial practice today and is organised by local members of the IKT association 

www.iktsite.org.

QUESTIONS
 

Is the label of African art useful or detrimental?

Who are the cultural players in Africa?

How is art criticism playing a role in defining and refining the pluralities of art and 

culture in Africa?

What is so particular about mobility in and out of Africa?

What is the role of the curator in creating or questioning the concept of 

contemporary African art?

Why curate "African art" exhibitions in Europe today?

The event is organised by On The Roof (Elise Atangana, Yves Chatap, Vanessa Desclaux, 

and Caroline Hancock) in collaboration with Chantal Pontbriand (Member of the IKT board) 

and will take place in French and English (no translation).

For more information, please also look at the following websites (note recordings will 

eventually be online): www.gulbenkian-paris.org - http://ontheroofproject.com/

PROGRAMME

13:00 Exhibition visit : Present Tense: Photographs from the South of Africa

14:00 Presentation by Caroline Hancock, co-founder of the On the Roof collective

14:10 Smooth Ugochukwu-Nzewi _ curating at the Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, NH, 

USA

14:30 Elise Atangana _ curating Rencontres Picha. Biennale de Lubumbashi 2012 / 2013 

with artistic director Elvira Dyangani, Congolese Democratic Republic

14:50 Bonaventure Soy Bejeng Ndikung _ curating at SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin, 

Germany

15:10 Aicha Diallo _ curating the online platform Contemporary And, Berlin, Germany

15:30 António Pinto Ribeiro _ curating Present Tense: Photographs from the South of 

Africa, Lisbon, Portugal

15:50 Yves Chatap and Élise Atangana _ curating Cyclicités, Dakar, Senegal

16:10 Aida Muluneh _ curating Addis Foto Fest, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Jimmy Ogonga_ 

artist and fonder of Nairobi Art Trust | CCAEA, Nairobi, Kenya

16:30 PAUSE

16:50 Lotte Arndt - curating Carrefours culturels de décolonisation, Bétonsalon, Paris, 

France

17:10 Cécile Bourne Farrell _ curating with Appartement 22, Rabat, Morocco

17:30 Nontobeko Ntombela _ curating Spectaculaire (Ateliers Internationaux, FRAC-Pays 

de la Loire), Johannesburg, South Africa 

17:50 Simon Njami | Yves Chatap _ after Africa Remix, Paris, France

18:10 Chantal Pontbriand, Pontbriand W.O.R.K.S. [We-Others and 

myself_Research_Knowledge_Systems] _ curating In and Out of Africa, Montreal, Canada

18:50 Bisi Silva _ curating at CCA, Lagos, Nigeria

19:10 Sana Tamzini _ curating at the Centre national d'art vivant, Tunis, Tunisia

19:30 New in-situ performance by Myriam Mihindou
 

The programme is subject to change. Some contributions will be via skype.