Curating ‘Visible Darkness’

Autograph’s Senior Curator Renée Mussai discusses the creation of Lina Iris Viktor’s exhibition, the research that informs the works on display, and Viktor’s performative engagement of the self.

Using the exhibition as a point of departure, Mussai will also reflect on the process of working closely with artists – especially black women and gender non conforming practitioners – to develop immersive curatorial projects and site-specific gallery installations. For instance, Viktor's work will be considered in relation to contemporary artists such as Zanele Muholi, Aida Silvestri, Jeannette Ehlers, and Phoebe Boswell, all of whom have exhibited at Autograph in recent years.

Mussai will be joined by independent curator Karen Alexander, responding to the exhibition and discussing shared curatorial practices.

This illustrated talk will be followed by Q&A with the audience.

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ABOUT RENÉE MUSSAI

Renée Mussai is Senior Curator and Head of Curatorial at Autograph. A scholar-curator with a special interest in African, Black European and diasporic lens-based practices, Mussai publishes and lectures internationally on photography, curatorial activism and cultural politics. Since 2009, she has been a regular guest curator and former non-resident fellow at the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University.

She is presently a Research Associate in the Visual Identities in Art and Design Research Centre, University of Johannesburg, and PhD candidate in Art History at University College London. Over the past decade, she has organised numerous exhibitions in Europe, Africa and the United States. Her writing has appeared in artist monographs, anthologies and journals such as Aperture, and Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art.

ABOUT KAREN ALEXANDER

Karen Alexander is a London-based independent film and moving image curator and an associate lecturer at Central St Martins, University of the Arts, London. For over 15 years she worked with and for BFI and the Royal College of Art. Her areas of research are artists’ film and video, and the post-colonial visual politics of the African diaspora with particular reference to gender, race and representation.

Recent curatorial projects include: A Passion for Remembering: The Films of Maureen Blackwood, Cinema Rediscovered, Bristol (2019), Dream Time: We All Have Stories, Nuit Blanche, Toronto (2018), Whip It Good: Spinning From History’s Filthy Mind, Jeannette Elhers, Autograph, London (2015). She has written for numerous publications, most recently contributing to Artists' Moving Image in Britain Since 1989 (Paul Mellon Centre, 2019)

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ACCESSIBILITY AT AUTOGRAPH

Everyone is welcome at Autograph. Our building Rivington Place is an accessible space with a step-free entrance at street level, and a lift to all floors. Unisex, accessible toilets are located on all floors.

Download our Accessibility Guide for detailed access information about our venue and transport bit.ly/2DF11bE

We are happy to help. If you would like to discuss your visit, or have any questions, please contact us at [email protected] or 020 7749 9200

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Supported using public funding by Arts Council England. Also supported by Mariane Ibrahim Gallery.