Cape Town – Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) will host and convene The Radical Solidarity Summit, its first, week-long online gathering that will address urgent issues, explore alternative futures, and discuss the possibilities that can be forged in the cultural field through acts of radical solidarity.
The event will take place over five days, 14-18 September 2020. It will be an opportunity to connect with other organisations and individuals, artists, curators, activists, writers and educators who are passionate about learning, supporting and collaborating in a spirit of mutual support and who are committed to the continued fostering of the arts from Africa and its diaspora.
Each day of the online event will explore solidarity through a different theme. The summit begins with a discussion on the historic legacies of resistance and the ongoing struggle for black liberation through the context of Pan-African solidarity. Day two examines the development of robust publication cultures including both print and online platforms as well as other methods of knowledge transmission. Day three looks at practices of collaboration and collectivity while day four will ask critical questions related to space, urbanism and mobility and its impact on imaginaries. The event concludes with a review of radical artistic and theoretical practice in relation to solidarity.
The programme will take the form of discursive talks alongside performances, film screenings and readings. In honour of the event, Zeitz MOCAA is handing over the reins of its Instagram account for the duration of the summit to blaxTARLINES KUMASI, an experimental incubator of contemporary art and sharing community based in Kumasi, Ghana.
The Radical Solidarity Summit draws on distinguished and leading figures from across the globe and from a range of disciplines spanning political science, film, visual arts, literature and philosophy. Confirmed participants include: Diana Campbell Betancourt, Frieda Ekotto, Haroon Gunn-Salie, Awa Konaté, Mpho Matsipa, Achille Mbembe, Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, Nontsikelelo Mutiti, Bonaventure Ndikung, Rémy Ngamije, Tuan Andrew Nguyen, Emeka Okereke, Bukola Oyebode, Marie Helene Pereira, Edgar Pieterse, ruangrupa, Albie Sachs, Rasha Salti, Tau Tavengwa and Françoise Vergès.
Koyo Kouoh, Executive Director and Chief Curator of Zeitz MOCAA, said:
“This summit, the first multi-day gathering convened by our young museum, comes at a pivotal moment for our Pan-African cultural community. We are reeling from the effects of a pandemic while witnessing the impact of systemic inequalities. We saw the urgency for this initiative, to debate about mutual support as we collectively navigate unsettling times.
The summit will provide a platform for an incredible group of speakers whose demanding and critical voices will discuss bold strategies and map new realities within the cultural field. We are committed to interdependency and know that it is necessary as individuals and organisations to engage and establish tangible and operational alliances, engagements, functional families, expressions and platforms to address ongoing issues and to forge a way forward.”
The Radical Solidarity Summit is organised and convened by the Zeitz MOCAA curatorial team: Tandazani Dhlakama, Sakhisizwe Gcina, Storm Janse van Rensburg, Koyo Kouoh, Tammy Langtry and Phokeng Setai
Tickets are R85 for African guests and R150 (USD $8.5) for international guests and are available through Webtickets. Zeitz MOCAA is also inviting applications from students for sponsored tickets by contacting the museum directly on education@zeitzmocaa.museum.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
CONFIRMED PARTICIPANTS
Diana Campbell Betancourt, chief curator Dhaka Art Summit and artistic director Samdani Art Foundation
Chimurenga, a pan-African platform of writing, art and politics
Frieda Ekotto, novelist and literary critic
Haroon Gunn-Salie, commissioned artist
Awa Konaté, critic, curator & founder of @CultureArtSociety
Mpho Matsipa, lecturer at Wits School of Architecture and Planning and research fellow at WiSER
Achille Mbembe, philosopher, political theorist and public intellectual
Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, screenwriter, film director and visual artist
Nontsikelelo Mutiti, graphic designer, artist and educator
Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, contemporary art curator, writer and founder and artistic director at Savvy Contemporary
Rémy Ngamije, novelist and publisher, co-founder of independent literary magazine Doek!
Tuan Andrew Nguyen, artist
Emeka Okereke, visual artist and writer
Bukola Oyebode, art writer, editor and publisher, founder and editor-in-chief of art magazine The Sole Adventurer
Marie Helene Pereira, curator and director of programmes, RAW Material Company
Edgar Pieterse, urban scholar, writer and creative agent, founding director African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town
Zahia Rahmani, art historian, curator
ruangrupa, contemporary art collective based in Jakarta, Indonesia
Albie Sachs, struggle veteran, former judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa and Zeitz MOCAA board member
Rasha Salti, researcher, writer, and curator of art and film
Tau Tavengwa, founder and co-editor of Cityscapes magazine and Curator-at-Large at African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town
Françoise Vergès, political scientist, historian and feminist
ABOUT ZEITZ MOCAA
Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (Zeitz MOCAA) is a public, not-for-profit institution that exhibits, collects, preserves and researches contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora; conceives and hosts international exhibitions; develops supporting educational, discursive and enrichment programmes; encourages intercultural understanding; and strives for access for all.
The museum’s galleries feature rotating, temporary exhibitions with a dedicated space for the permanent collection. The institution also includes the Centre for Art Education, the Centre for the Moving Image, and a project space for emerging artists.
Zeitz MOCAA was established through a partnership between the V&A Waterfront led by CEO David Green – acting on behalf of Growthpoint Properties Limited and the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF), represented by the Public Investment Corporation Limited (PIC) – and collector Jochen Zeitz. The building was reimagined through a design by the acclaimed London-based Heatherwick Studio. It opened to the public in September 2017.