“After Okwui Enwezor”: Ebony L. Haynes, T. Lax, K.O. Nnamdie
This conversation between curators Ebony L. Haynes, Thomas (T.) Jean Lax, and K.O. Nnamdie was initiated alongside an essay series in e-flux journal titled “After Okwui Enwezor,” edited by Serubiri Moses. The episode begins with three short audio excerpts from [1] On the Politics of Disaggregation: Notes on Cildo Meireles' Insertions into Ideological Circuits—Parsons The New School for Design [2] Postwar: Art between the Pacific and the Atlantic, 1945–1965—Fondation Giacometti [3] Art Dubai Global Art Forum 8: 1955–2055: A Documenta Century Exhibitions covered include: Postwar: Art Between the Pacific and the Atlantic, 1945–1965 (2016) and the 56th Venice Biennale: All the World's Futures (2015). Additionally, the idea of rigorous curating, and the horizon is explored in discussion of recent exhibitions including Judson Dance Theater: The Work is Never Done (2018) at MoMA, and Invisible Man (2017) featuring Jessica Vaughan, Kayode Ojo, Torkwase Dyson and Pope.L at Martos Gallery, and Evil N*gger (2025) featuring Glenn Ligon and Julius Eastman at 52 Walker. The “After Okwui Enwezor” series in e-flux journal reflects on the resounding presence of the late writer, curator, and theoretician. Along with a focus on his many innovative concepts like the “postcolonial constellation,” the series presents a wide evaluation of Enwezor’s curatorial and theoretical practice following other similar initiatives, such as the special issue on Enwezor by the journal he founded, Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art. Moving beyond tributes and biography, this series covers topics such as the relevance of Enwezor’s approach to politics, the limits of the exhibition as a form for critique, his conception of modernity and writing on the contemporary, his nomadic epistemology, accounts of his biennials in Seville, Paris, and Venice as institutional critique, and the specific contribution of non-Western artists in the art world. Ebony L. Haynes is the curator and Senior Director at 52 Walker, a David Zwirner gallery space presenting longer format exhibitions with primarily conceptual and research-based artists. T. Lax is a curator of media and performance at New York's Museum of Modern Art, where he has co-organized Judson Dance Theater: The Work is Never Done (2018), Just Above Midtown: Changing Spaces (2022) and Ceremonies Out of the Air: Ralph Lemon (2024) among others. Thomas began his career at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where he contributed to the landmark “f show” contemporary art series in 2012 and put together When The Stars Begin To Fall: Imagination and the American South in 2014. K.O. Nnamdie is an artist, writer, curator, and art advisor. Nnamdie ran Restaurant Projects, a curatorial project between 2018 and 2025 based on their interest in the intersection between hospitality and the arts. Nnamdie also directed anonymous gallery between 2021 and 2024.
Netherlands