In his seminal publication The Black Atlantic (1993), Paul Gilroy described the back-and-forth of cultural influence across diasporas as an ‘inescapable hybridity and intermixture of ideas’.
Opening on November 30, the Conversations program at Art Basel Miami Beach will embrace the concepts of hybridity, cross-pollination and community with nine panels gathering leading voices from Latin America, the US, and Europe.
Launching the program, our Premiere artist talk brings together artist Carrie Mae Weems – whose influential work explores cultural identity in relation to political structures – with self-styled ‘revolutionary art-rock, new-wave goddess’ and artist Nona Hendryx. They will discuss collaborative multi-media experimentations and how they look to the future to best respond to the present moment. Conceived and hosted by Hans Ulrich Obrist, this panel is part of a new series, Art Intersections, which delves into the common passions that unite creatives, and is curated in collaboration with Serpentine.
Artist Chino Amobi and crypto-entrepreneur Moon Jérin will also contemplate the future in their Sonic Lecture. Featuring meditative sounds and images, this experimental performance will explore blockchain technology and predictive-modelling scenarios, mining the fertile ground between knowledge and intuition, probability and entropy.
In ‘Unravelling Stories’, Christopher Myers and Cauleen Smith will consider how narrative tools can be used to counter official histories. By referencing various myths around water from the African continent and revisiting the words of activists such as abolitionist Sojourner Truth, both artists weave together past and future narratives in their practices.
Ming Smith will discuss her early work with the Black photographers collective Kamoinge Workshop, how she came to work with her present gallerists, and their joint journey leading up to major solo exhibitions in 2023, including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Supporting the exchange of ideas across nations, continents, and oceans, two panels consider collecting and philanthropy. ‘Journeys across Diasporas: Collecting African Art’ traces the commitments that collectors, galleries and collecting institutions have taken, from supporting local artists from the African diaspora to developing projects internationally. In ‘How Does Art Get Funded? New Forms of Philanthropy’, we’ll hear from representatives of leading organizations on future priorities and forms of giving.
Responding to the challenges of climate change, artists Agnieszka Kurant, Joshua Citarella, João Enxuto, and Erica Love will look at the impact of today’s fast-changing technological reality in ‘The Underside of Connectivity: From Data Mining to Carbon Footprint’. While ‘Growing Sideways: a Counter-intuitive Approach to the Art Market’ will see the panel debate alternatives to concepts of recession and expansion.
Finally, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Art Basel Miami Beach, we’ve invited representatives from the Craig Robins, de la Cruz, and Margulies Collections to reflect on their parallel journeys in helping shape the city’s cultural ecosystem.
Curated by Emily Butler and taking place in the Auditorium (Grand Ballroom) at Art Basel Miami Beach, the Conversations program will run from Wednesday, November 30 to Friday, December 2, 2022. See full program here.
Free to the public, all nine panels will be livestreamed on Art Basel’s Facebook channel and made available after the fair on the Art Basel website.
Captions for full-bleed images: 1. Chino Amobi, Eroicaverse II, 2022 (detail). Courtesy of the artist and Fitzpatrick Gallery. 2. Chino Amobi. Photo by Tim Saccenti.