Ghana Must Go, Senam Okudzeto gives talk at CCA,Lagos on Sat 20th February 2010

Senam Okudzetor courtesy the artist

SENAM OKUDZETO (Lives and Works in Basel, Switzerland)

TOPIC :GHANA MUST GO;PERSONAL NARRATIVES, IDENTITY AND IDENTIFICATION AND RESEARCH...

DATE & TIME SATURDAY 20TH FEBRUARY 3PM

PLACE CCA,LAGOS 9 MCEWEN STREET, OFF HERBERT MACAULAY ST, SABO, YABA, LAGOS

GUEST ARTIST BIO

SENAM OKUDZETO IS A TRANSNATIONAL ARTIST, WRITER, AND SCHOLAR, (GHANA /UK/USA). BORN IN CHICAGO, USA, SHE SPENT HER CHILDHOOD LIVING IN GHANA, NIGERIA, THE UK, AND USA SHE NOW DIVIDES THE YEAR BETWEEN PROJECTS IN BASEL, LONDON, NEW YORK, AND ACCRA.

SHE RECEIVED HER BA FROM THE SLADE SCHOOL OF FINE ART, UCL, LONDON, HER MASTER’S FROM THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF ART, LONDON AND CONTINUED POST-GRADUATE STUDY AT THE WHITNEY MUSEUM’S INDEPENDENT STUDY PROGRAM IN NEW YORK. IN 2003/2004 OKUDZETO WAS AWARDED A RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP AT THE RADCLIFFE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDIES AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

RECENT PROJECTS INCLUDE A SOLO SHOW AT KUNSTRAUM LAKESIDE KLAGENFURT, AUSTRIA (2009), A SOLO PROJECT AT PS1 MOMA -’PORTES-ORANGES’ (2007), THE DAK’ART BIENALLE IN SENEGAL (2006), WHERE SHE REPRESENTED THE USA, AND DIASPORA WITH HER WORK ‘CAPITALISM AND SCHIZOPHRENIA’. HER INSTALLATION ‘THE DIALECTIC OF JUBILATION’ WAS SHOWN ‘AFRICA REMIX’ AT THE CENTRE POMPIDOU (2005), AND THE WORK ‘LONG DISTANCE LOVER’ WAS EXHIBITED AT FREESTYLE AT THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM( 2001).

OKUDZETO HAS TAUGHT IN SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES IN EUROPE, THE USA, AND WEST AFRICA AND HAS RECEIVED NUMEROUS AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS, INCLUDING THE ARTIST’S RESIDENCY AT THE STUDIO MUSEUM IN HARLEM 2000/2001, A POLLOCK KRASNER AWARD IN 2002, AND THE STIFTUNG LAURENZ HAUS RESIDENCY 2002 IN BASEL. OKUDZETO IS WIDELY PUBLISHED AND PRESENTLY SERVES ON THE EDITORIAL BOARD OF THE ACADEMIC PUBLICATION ART JOURNAL. SHE IS ALSO MEMBER OF THE ARTISTS’ COLLECTIVE TROPICAL GOTH (WITH ADAM LEHNER AND ANIA SOLIMAN), AND THE FOUNDER OF ART IN SOCIAL STRUCTURES, AN INTERNATIONAL NGO THAT PROVIDES EDUCATIONAL INITIATIVES AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN GHANA THROUGH FUNDING PROVIDED BY ARTISTS. HER WORK IS HOUSED IN SEVERAL PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, INCLUDING THE AMISTAAD CENTER IN NEW ORLEANS, SCHAULAGER, BASEL, AND THE RADCLIFFE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY.

CCA,Lagos acknowledges the support of PRO HELVETIA, The Swiss Arts Council for Senam Okudzeto's participation in On Independence and The Ambivalence of Promise, an international art photography residency.