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“On his way from Germany to Kenya, Eric Otieno passed by Bagamoyo, in Tanzania, where he found traces of German colonialism. In this »travelogue« he reflects on the difficult, and often bad memory politics, which repeat »national narratives of founders, fathers, flags, and fanfare.« Instead he complicates the relation of memory, time and places by pointing towards the gaps of collective memory, and a distorted »Erinnerungskultur.« »To be black is to remember forgotten, unwritten, erased memories. « he says.” https://schloss-post.com/entanglements-in-transnational-memory-politics/ Image: Eric Otieno/Lisa Kolloge

From May 23 until June 28 2019, the Institut français Stuttgart presents “Certainties are Suspended”, an exhibition focusing on four exciting African and Afrodiasporic artists. In the context of the festival “Membrane: African Literatures and Ideas”, the exhibition presents recent photographic and experimental video work by Keyezua, Samira Messner, Fabrice Monteiro and Nicolas Premier. The multimedia work on show transcends the purely documentary, engaging with history, affect, presence and the dynamic production of future(s): the aspects that constitute the essence of any society. The works document, expand and investigate realities that elude simple certainties and demand a second look. https://www.contemporaryand.com/exhibition/certainities-are-suspended-photographic-positions-group-show/ Image: Still AITF Series, 2019. Written & Directed by Nicolas Premier

It remains to be seen whether all of these promises will be fulfilled, and what the national pavilions have in store as far as “interesting times” are concerned. It is at the national pavilions that the art/politics nexus will be put to the ultimate test. http://griotmag.com/en/may-you-live-in-interesting-times-what-to-expect-at-the-58th-venice-biennale-of-art-r/ Image: Njideka Akunyili Crosby, And We Begin To Let Go (2013), courtesy La Biennale

“Doing what they love: Yalla Khartoum” is a new documentary by Editude Pictures featuring Sudan’s budding music scene from a refreshingly untold perspective. The 18 minute documentary zooms in on Khartoum’s musicians, exploring the paradox of an otherwise musically rich country in which young musicians struggle to pursue music as a career, or even as a passion. Drawing from personal stories of rising musicians in Khartoum’s scene, the film captures a determined youth keen on finding societal acceptance and value in their passion in the context of societal flux. . http://griotmag.com/en/love-new-documentary-sudans-music-scene-portrays-country-flux/ Image: Still from “Doing what they love”

Across all platforms, posts tagged #BHM have been keen to share snippets of Black history accompanied by corresponding images in celebration of Black history. February 2019 was no different. Even so, most posts tagged #BHM over the yeas have shared content in a way that inadvertently encourages passive consumption, rarely motivating meaningful engagement beyond the particular platform, and beyond BHM itself. As I found out this year, it doesn’t have to be that way http://griotmag.com/en/black-history-month-is-bhm-nothing-but-a-hashtag-fannie-lou/ Image Fannie Lou Hamer on 25 Aug 1964, Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA© Bettmann/CORBIS

“2018 wurde das eurozentrische business as usual von allen Seiten herausgefordert. Für Unbehagen in der europäischen Museumslandschaft sorgten allen voran der senegalesische Ökonom und Schriftsteller Felwine Sarr und die französische Kunsthistorikerin Bénédicte Savoy, denn sie legten dem französischen Präsidenten einen Bericht vor und rüttelten all jene auf, die sich um die Frage von Restitution und Provenienz von im kolonialen Kontext erworbener Kunst lange gedrückt hatten. Nun sind von Sarr und Savoy zwei Bücher auf Deutsch erschienen, die wichtige Impulse für die Debatte um Dekolonisierung und Provenienz deutschen “Kulturbesitzes” versprechen.” https://www.monopol-magazin.de/eine-entruempelung-der-wissenskultur-ist-laengst-faellig Images: (c) Matthes & Seitz Berlin

“Racism is a recurrent subject on C&. The Western malaise permeates our entire lives and that includes the art world which often presents itself as a beacon of hope and open-mindedness. That is, until incidents such as the one last month at the theater Münchner Kammerspiele, where Kasper König made a series of racist comments. In the same panel, the veteran curator also racially abused artist and discussant Cana Bilir-Meier, who went on to start the open letter Es kotzt uns an – We are sick of it that denounces racisms in the arts. We’ve collected five distinct perspectives from art practitioners on this issue”. https://www.contemporaryand.com/magazines/racism-in-the-art-world-a-luta-continua/ Image Caption: Protesters demand the renaming the M*straße in Berlin Mitte. Photo: Tahir Della

In November this year, a report written by Bénédicte Savoy and Felwine Sarr evaluated the urgent need for restitution of looted African artifacts held in French museums. Commissioned by French President Emmanuel Macron, the 108-page report lays out some steps for the long-awaited restitution. Eric Otieno looks at the major conclusions from the groundbreaking report and comments on positive and negative reactions from European cultural institutions so far. https://www.contemporaryand.com/de/magazines/the-first-reactions-to-the-report-on-restitution-of-looted-art/ Image: Unvergleichlich: Kunst aus Afrika im Bode-Museum (Beyond Compare: Art from Africa in the Bode-Museum), Installation view © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin / David von Becker

“Because I live here”, an exhibition at the Museum for Modern Art in Frankfurt, places post-migrant German society under the microscope to reveal structural violence. As the first show of its kind to specifically address racism and violence in post-migrant German society, it’s a milestone for contemporary art as far as its pertinent themes are concerned. https://www.sleek-mag.com/article/because-i-live-here/ Image: Installation view of Emeka Ogboh’s, “Sufferhead Original” (Frankfurt edition), 2018, Courtesy Emeka Ogboh. Photo: Axel Schneider

Die Frankfurter Schirn hat mit ihrer Ausstellung “König der Tiere: Wilhelm Kuhnert und das Bild von Afrika” eine Debatte entfacht: Wo bleibt die kritische Einbettung dieses Malers im Gefüge des deutschen Kolonialismus? Die Kritik ist berechtigt, schreibt Eric Otieno in seinem Gastkommentar für Monopol https://www.monopol-magazin.de/kuhnert-der-malende-kolonialherr. Bild: Wilhelm Kuhnert beim Malen, 9. September 1911, © Nachlass Wilhelm Kuhnert

As 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair opens today in London’s Somerset House, Eric Otieno explores how the fair provides a new perspective on art from Africa and its diaspora https://www.sleek-mag.com/article/1-54-contemporary-african-art-fair/ Image: © Larry Achiampong (Copperfield Gallery)

The politics of heritage in South Africa @Mandela100 https://otienos.com/projects/6550277

The artist translates conceptual affirmations of her creative self into the multi-sensory piece and way of thinking, Power to the God Within http://nataal.com/jojo-abot Image: ©Jojo Abot akofilms.com

As the Berlin Biennale opens its doors, Eric Otieno interrogates one newspaper’s sweeping statement about the apparent diversity of the German art scene.Is art really the new Black? http://www.sleek-mag.com/2018/06/08/berlin-biennale-art-new-black/ Image: Work by Emma Wolkau Wanambwa at the 10th Berlin Biennale.

During the Manifesta Biennale Hutchinson will present Abeng, an oeuvre in three acts based on sound. Titled after one of his poems from the Far District collection published in 2010, it refers to the sound made by abeng, a cow horn, blown by Maroons. In this work, he interprets ozio as a form of protest against power and the manufactured time of the masters, resonating with writings of Sicilian authors such as Federico de Roberto, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Vitaliano Brancati and Leonardo Sciascia.http://griotmag.com/en/ishion-hutchinson-ozio-manifesta-biennial-palermo/ Image: Ishion Hutschinson at the American Academy in Rome (c) Marco Brunelli/Johanne Affricot

Johannesburg, March 2018.