Sharjah Art Foundation

Sharjah Biennial 16

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
6 Febuary — 15 June 2025

Statecraft, 2014–ongoing

The Otolith Group, <em>Statecraft</em>
2014–ongoing
Installation with postage stamps, lightboxes consisting of various materials, LED
Dimensions variable
Co-commissioned and co-developed in collaboration with Bergen Kunsthall, Norway, and Casco–Office for Art, Design and Theory, Utrecht, the Netherlands, in partnership with Artsonje Center, Seoul
Courtesy of The Otolith Group

Overview

A conversation with Kodwo Eshun and Anjalika Sagar, members of the art collective The Otolith Group, will mark the conclusion of their Sharjah Art Foundation exhibition, Xenogenesis, on 5 February 2022. The artists will engage in a wide-ranging discussion with Elvira Dyangani Ose, curator and Director of Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA), around the post-cinematic imagination of the prospect and rupture of the Pan-African project.

The conversation will focus on the cycle of works initiated by The Otolith Group in 2013 with the post-cinematic video, In the Year of the Quiet Sun, continuing with the installation Statecraft and concluding with the animation Sovereign Sisters (2014).

Taken individually, and in their entirety, these works constitute a biography of African modernity that envisions Pan-Africanism as a continental project of African futurism, viewed from a contemporary perspective of critical Afropessimism, as formulated by British art historian and writer Kobena Mercer in 2000.

This event is organised by Sharjah Art Foundation in collaboration with The Africa Institute.

COVID-19 safety measures

Please note that in line with government health and safety guidelines, visitors are required to show either a negative RT-PCR test result or a green status on the Al Hosn app, in addition to wearing masks and keeping a safe distance from others at all times. Audience capacity at the venue will be limited to ensure adherence to social distancing rules and seating will be arranged accordingly.

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Founded by Kodwo Eshun and Anjalika Sagar, The Otolith Group creates films, installations, audio works and performances.

Talk: Envisioning a Post-cinematic Pan-Africanist Aesthetics

The Otolith Group: Xenogenesis

Xenogenesis brings together a selection of key works by the The Otolith Group, the London-based art collective consisting of Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun, founded in 2002.

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