In
Context
Curatorial
Initiative

In Context is a curatorial platform initiated in 2010 to examine the dynamics of place, geography and diaspora in relation to the African continent and its global entanglements. Conceived in response to South Africa hosting the World Cup and temporarily becoming “home” to the world, the initiative began as a reflection on visibility, locality and the shifting meanings of context in an increasingly transnational art landscape.

A consistent thread runs through each edition of 'In Context': the interrogation of how bodies inhabit space, how histories are written and rewritten, and how contemporary artistic practice can open new frameworks for understanding where we are, and how we arrived here.

Subsequent iterations expanded both the scale and scope of the programme. In 2016, Africans in America, co-curated by Liza Essers and Hank Willis Thomas, was presented alongside the international conference Black Portraiture[s] III, held for the first time on the African continent. Across venues in Johannesburg and Cape Town, the project explored exchanges between Africa and the United States through a global Black lens, bringing together artists including Ghada Amer, Theaster Gates, Julie Mehretu, Wangechi Mutu, Kehinde Wiley, Kudzanai Chiurai and Nolan Oswald Dennis, addressing themes of migration, colonial memory, violence, and diasporic belonging.

In 2018, this past was waiting for me shifted focus to contemporary women artists across Africa and its diasporas. Drawing on a poem by Lucille Clifton, the exhibition examined suppressed histories and the body as a site of colonial and patriarchal inscription. Artists including Kara Walker, Yinka Shonibare, Grada Kilomba, Shirin Neshat, Carrie Mae Weems, and Wangechi Mutu explored historical trauma and the reimagining of inherited narratives.

The fourth edition, La courte échelle, unfolded online during the global pandemic. Guest-curated by Yto Barrada, Mateo López, and Carlos Garaicoa, it used the metaphor of the ladder to reflect on restriction and social hierarchy, foregrounding emerging artists from the Global South and reaffirming the platform’s commitment to cross-regional collaboration.

Most recently, Standing in the Gap, presented in London, marked the first international iteration of In Context. Bringing together artists including Faith Ringgold, Carrie Mae Weems, Hank Willis Thomas, Nolan Oswald Dennis, and Ravelle Pillay, the exhibition explored suppressed histories and speculative futures through painting, sculpture, photography, and research-based practice.

A consistent thread runs through each edition: the interrogation of how bodies inhabit space, how histories are written and rewritten, and how contemporary artistic practice can open new frameworks for understanding where we are, and how we arrived here.