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Monday, May 30, 2011

Okwui Enwezor

Born 1963 in Kabala, Nigeria, Okwui Enwezor is one of the most influential curators and theorists in contemporary art. In 1998, he became known to a broader public when he was appointed as the first representative of a non-Western country to be artistic director of the documenta 11. In 2002, he set a new attendance record for a medially and regionally diverse exhibition in Kassel. Five international "platforms" preceded the actual exhibition, creating an impressive format and expanding it to a global scale both theoretically and conceptually.
Enwezor grew up in Enugu in eastern Nigeria. He moved to the US in the early 1980s, where he earned a BA in political science at Jersey City State College. During this time he developed an interest in art and exhibitions and concluded that African artists were under-represented in the art market. From this standpoint, Enwezor began to develop and sharpen his profile as an art critic. 

The Politics of Spectacle: The Gwangju Biennale and the Asian Century

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