On the Nigerian elections

With the conclusion of the Presidential elections today, there is reason to be optimistic about my homeland, Nigeria. But, the most important part of the story today is that President Jonathan wasted no time to concede to Buhari. He did not wait for the last results from Bornu State to come; nor did he wait to find some legal or illegal loophole for throwing the country into chaos. And so, we may never know how many lives he saved by this unprecedented gesture--that is if the wounded hyenas around him don't start stalking the night. The concession may be the best thing he has done for democracy in Nigeria.

Hope rides the sky over Abuja.
Caution floats among the mangroves...

It is a good day.

My Huffington Post comment on George Osodi and Hassan Hajjaj exhibitions @ Newark Museum

Excerpt:

"Osodi's subjects are the high and mighty, men and women who at least in days past had tremendous power, and who in the present are the guardians of tradition. Yet, the portraits reveal how much the performance of this traditional power depends on acquisition of luxury (or simply exotic) materials and goods from far beyond the respective kingdoms, even as they equally mask the fact that many of these rulers were once well-traveled chieftains of modern business and the professions. In these portraits then are multiple and complex stories and histories of not just the royals but also of their societies as they contend with ancestral legacies and the imperatives of global modernity."

Read the whole comment Here

2015 Venice Biennale: List of invited artists

MARCH 5, 2015

Artists Announced for 2015 Venice Biennale

The list of artists for Okwui Enwezor’s “All the World’s Futures” at the 2015 Venice Biennale has been released. The show consists of over 136 artists from fifty-three countries, and will feature a space for live programming in the Central Pavilion designed by David Adjaye called The Arena. “The linchpin of this program will be the epic live reading of all three volumes of Karl Marx’s Das Kapital,” Enwezor states. “Here, Das Kapital will serve as a kind of Oratorio that will be continuously read live, throughout the exhibition’s seven months’ duration.” The Biennale has also commissioned Kara Walker to direct a new production of Vincenzo Bellini's Norma(1831), which will be staged at La Fenice Opera House. The fifty-sixth edition of the Venice Biennale opens May 9 with previews beginning May 6, and runs through November 22.

Jumana Emil Abboud 
B. 1971 Palestine, Lives And Works In Jerusalem

Adel Abdessemed 
B. 1971 Algeria, Lives And Works In Paris

Mathieu Kleyebe Abonnenc 
B. 1977 France, Lives And Works In Metz

Abounaddara 
Founded 2010 Syria/Palestine, Live And Work In Damascus

Boris Achour 
B. 1966 France, Lives And Works In Paris

Terry Adkins 
B. 1953 - D. 2014, United States

Saâdane Afif 
B. 1970 France, Lives And Works In Berlin

Chantal Akerman 
B. 1950 Belgium, Lives And Works In Paris

John Akomfrah 
B. 1957 Ghana, Lives And Works In London

Karo Akpokiere 
B. 1981 Nigeria, Lives And Works In Lagos And Berlin

Mounira Al Solh 
B. 1978 Lebanon, Lives And Works In Beirut And Amsterdam

Meriç Algün Ringborg 
B. 1983 Turkey, Lives And Works In Stockholm

Jennifer Allora & Guillermo Calzadilla 
B. 1974 United States, B. 1971 Cuba, Live And Work In San Juan

Kutlug Ataman 
B. 1961 Turkey, Lives And Works In London

Maja Bajevic 
B. 1967 Bosnia, Lives And Works In Paris And Sarajevo

Ernesto Ballesteros 
B. 1963 Argentina, Lives And Works In Buenos Aires

Sammy Baloji 
B. 1978 Democratic Republic Of Congo, Lives And Works In Lubumbashi And Brussels

Rosa Barba 
B. 1972 Italy, Lives And Works In Berlin

Georg Baselitz 
B. 1938 Germany, Lives And Works In Munich

Eduardo Basualdo 
B. 1977 Argentina, Lives And Works In Buenos Aires

Petra Bauer 
B. 1970 Sweden, Lives And Works In Stockholm

Walead Beshty 
B. 1976 United Kingdom, Lives And Works In Los Angeles

Huma Bhabha 
B. 1962 Pakistan, Lives And Works In Poughkeepsie

Christian Boltanski 
B. 1944 France, Lives And Works In Paris

Monica Bonvicini 
B. 1965 Italy, Lives And Works In Berlin

Sonia Boyce 
B. 1962 United Kingdom, Lives And Works In London

Daniel Boyd 
B. 1982 Australia, Lives And Works In Sydney

Ricardo Brey 
B. 1955 Cuba, Lives And Works In Gent

Marcel Broodthaers 
B. 1924 - D. 1976, Belgium

Tania Bruguera 
B. 1968 Cuba, Lives And Works In New York

Teresa Burga 
B. 1935 Peru, Lives And Works In Lima

Keith Calhoun and Chandra Mccormick 
B. 1955/B. 1957 United States, Live And Work In New Orleans

Cao Fei 
B. 1978 China, Lives And Works In Beijing

Nidhal Chamekh 
B. 1985 Tunisia, Lives And Works In Tunis And Paris

Olga Chernysheva 
B. 1962 Russia, Lives And Works In Moscow

Tiffany Chung 
B. 1969 Vietnam, Lives And Works In Ho Chi Minh City

Cooperativa Cráter Invertido 
An Artistic Cooperative Founded 2011, Based In Mexico City

Creative Time Summit 
A Non-Profit Organization Founded In 1974, Based In New York

Elena Damiani 
B. 1979 Peru, Lives And Works In Copenhagen

Jeremy Deller 
B. 1966 United Kingdom, Lives And Works In London

Thea Djordajdze 
B. 1971 Georgia, Lives And Works In Berlin

Marlene Dumas 
B. 1953 South Africa, Lives And Works In Amsterdam

E-Flux Journal 
A Publishing Platform Founded In 2008, Based In New York

Melvin Edwards 
B. 1937 United States, Lives And Works In New York

Inji Efflatoun 
B. 1924 - D. 1989 Egypt

Antje Ehmann and Harun Farocki 
B. 1968 Germany, Lives And Works In Berlin / B. 1944 – D. 2014 Germany

Maria Eichhorn 
B. 1962 Germany, Lives And Works In Berlin

Walker Evans 
B. 1903 - D. 1975 United States

Harun Farocki 
B. 1944 - D. 2014, Germany

Emily Floyd 
B. 1972 Australia, Lives And Works In Sydney

Peter Friedl 
B. 1960 Austria, Lives And Works In Berlin

Coco Fusco 
B. 1960 United States, Lives And Works In New York

Marco Fusinato 
B. 1964 Australia, Lives And Works In Melbourne

Charles Gaines 
B. 1944 United States, Lives And Works In Los Angeles

Ellen Gallagher 
B. 1965 United States, Lives And Works In Rotterdam

Ana Gallardo 
B. 1958 Argentina, Lives And Works In Buenos Aires

Dora Garcia 
B. 1965 Spain, Lives In Barcelona

Theaster Gates 
B. 1973 United States, Lives And Works In Chicago

Isa Genzken 
B. 1948 Germany, Lives And Works In Berlin

Gluklya 
B. 1969 Russia, Lives And Works In Saint Petersburg

Sônia Gomes 
B. 1948 Brazil, Lives And Works In Belo Horizonte

Katharina Grosse 
B. 1961 Germany, Lives And Works In Berlin

Gulf Labor 
A Transnational Coalition Of International Artists Founded In 2010

Andreas Gursky 
B. 1955 Germany, Lives And Works In Düsseldorf

Hans Haacke 
B. 1936 Germany, Lives And Works In New York

Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige 
B. 1969 Lebanon, Live And Work In Paris And Beirut

Newell Harry 
B. 1972 Australia, Lives And Works In Sydney

Kay Hassan 
B. 1956 South Africa, Lives And Works In Johannesburg

Thomas Hirschhorn 
B. 1957 Switzerland, Lives And Works In Paris

Carsten Höller 
B. 1961 Belgium, Lives And Works In Stockholm

Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson 
B. 1938 - D. 2014 / B.1938 - D. 1973 United States

Heung Soon Im 
B. 1969 South Korea, Lives And Works In Seoul

Invisible Borders: Trans-African Photographers 
An Artists’ Organization Founded In 2011, Based In Lagos

Tetsuya Ishida 
B. 1973 – D. 2005 Japan

Ji Dachun 
B. 1968 China, Lives And Works In Beijing

Isaac Julien 
B. 1960 United Kingdom, Lives And Works In London

Hiwa K. 
B. 1975 Iraq, Lives And Works In Berlin

Samson Kambalu 
B. 1975 Malawi, Lives And Works In London

Ayoung Kim 
B. 1979 South Korea, Lives And Works In Seoul

Alexander Kluge 
B. 1932 Germany, Lives And Works In Munich

Emily Kame Kngwarreye 
B. 1910 - D. 1996, Australia

Runo Lagomarsino 
B. 1977 Sweden, Lives And Works In Stockholm And São Paulo

Sonia Leber and David Chesworth 
B. 1959 Australia, B. 1958 United Kingdom, Live And Work In Melbourne

Glenn Ligon 
B. 1960 United States, Lives And Works In New York

Gonçalo Mabunda 
B. 1975 Mozambique, Lives And Works In Maputo

Madhusudhanan 
B. 1956 India, Lives And Works In New Delhi And Kerala

Ibrahim Mahama 
B. 1987 Ghana, Lives And Works In Tamale

David Maljkovic 
B. 1973 Croatia, Lives And Works In Zagreb

Victor Man 
B. 1974 Romania, Lives And Works In Berlin

Abu Bakarr Mansaray 
B. 1970 Sierra Leone, Lives And Works In Freetown And The Netherlands

Chris Marker 
B. 1921 - D. 2012, France

Kerry James Marshall 
B. 1955 United States, Lives And Works In Chicago

Helen Marten 
B. 1985 United Kingdom, Lives And Works In London

Fabio Mauri 
B. 1926 - D. 2009 Italy

Steve Mcqueen 
B. 1969 United Kingdom, Lives And Works In Amsterdam

Naeem Mohaiemen 
B. 1969 Bangladesh, Lives And Works In Dhaka And New York

Jason Moran 
B. 1975 United States, Lives And Works In New York

Ivana Müller 
B. 1972 Croatia, Lives And Works In Paris

Lavar Munroe 
B. 1982 Bahamas, Lives And Works Between Chapel Hill, North Carolina And Washington DC

Oscar Murillo 
B. 1986 Colombia, Lives And Works In London

Wangechi Mutu 
B. 1972 Kenya, Lives And Works In New York

Hwayeon Nam 
B. 1979 South Korea, Lives And Works In Seoul And Berlin

Bruce Nauman 
B. 1941 United States, Lives And Works In New Mexico

Cheikh Ndiaye 
B. 1970 Senegal, Lives And Works In New York, Dakar And Lyon

Olaf Nicolai 
B. 1962 Germany, Lives And Works In Berlin

Chris Ofili 
B. 1968 United Kingdom, Lives And Works In London And Trinidad

Emeka Ogboh 
B. 1977 Nigeria, Lives And Works In Lagos And Berlin

Philippe Parreno 
B. 1964 France, Lives And Works In Paris

Pino Pascali 
B. 1935 - D. 1968, Italy

Adrian Piper 
B. 1948 United States, Lives And Works In Berlin

Lemi Ponifasio 
B. 1964 New Zealand, Lives And Works In Auckland

Qiu Zhijie 
B. 1969 China, Lives And Works In Beijing

Raha Raissnia 
B. 1968 Iran, Lives And Works In New York

Raqs Media Collective 
(Narula, Monica; Bagchi, Jeebesh; Sengupta, Shuddhabrata) 
A Collective Founded 1992 India, Based In New Delhi

Lili Reynaud-Dewar 
B. 1975 France, Lives And Works In Grenoble

Mykola Ridnyi 
B. 1985 Ukraine, Lives And Works In Kharkiv

Liisa Roberts 
B. 1969 France, Lives And Works In New York, Helsinki And Saint Petersburg

Mika Rottenberg 
B. 1976 Argentina, Lives And Works In New York

Joachim Schönfeldt 
B. 1958 South Africa, Lives And Works In Johannesburg

Massinissa Selmani 
B. 1980 Algeria, Lives And Works In Algiers And Tours

Fatou Kandé Senghor 
B 1971 Senegal, Lives And Works In Dakar

Prasad Shetty and Rupali Gupte 
B. 1974 India, Live And Work In Mumbai

Gedi Sibony 
B. 1973 United States, Lives And Works In New York

Gary Simmons 
B. 1964 United States, Lives And Works In New York

Taryn Simon 
B. 1975 United States, Lives And Works In New York

Lorna Simpson 
B. 1960 United States, Lives And Works In New York

Robert Smithson 
B. 1938 - D. 1973, United States

Mikhael Subotzky 
B. 1981 South Africa, Lives And Works In Johannesburg

Mariam Suhail 
B. 1979 Pakistan, Lives And Works In Bangalore

Sarah Sze 
B. 1969 United States, Lives And Works In New York

The Propeller Group 
A Collective Founded 2006 Vietnam/US, Live And Work In Ho Chi Minh City

The Tomorrow 
A Journal Founded 2014 Italy, Based In Milan

Rirkrit Tiravanija 
B. 1961 Thailand, Lives And Works In New York, Berlin And Chiang Mai

Barthélémy Toguo 
B. 1967 Cameroon, Lives And Works In Paris And Bandjoun

Xu Bing 
B. 1955 China, Lives And Works In Beijing

Ala Younis 
B. 1974 Jordan, Lives And Works In Amman