Azu Nwagbogu, an internationally renowned curator, investigates the evolution of African photography in the transition from Afropessimist culture, characterized by a negative approach to the Continent's development possibilities, to Afrofuturist culture, which instead includes Africa in a vision open to the future and technological development. This talk is focused on the challenges faced by people of Africa and its diasporas. The narrative has expanded to embrace an agency in the presentism of current realities and highlights the potential and innovation within African communities. Through a dynamic exploration of visual arts and the LagosPhoto festival as a case study, the talk will illustrate how African photography serves as a powerful medium for expressing a spectrum of experiences and visions, moving from a focus on common struggles to celebrating common futures and human connections.
Azu Nwagbogu talks to Urs Stahel, curator of the MAST Photography Grant on Industry and Work exhibition.
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Azu Nwagbogu is an internationally acclaimed curator, interested in evolving new models of engagement with questions of decolonization, restitution, and repatriation. Nwagbogu is the Founder and Director of “African Artists’Foundation” (AAF), a non-profit organisation based in Lagos, Nigeria. He also serves as Founder and Director of “LagosPhoto” Festival, an annual international arts festival of photography held in Lagos. He is the publisher of Art Base Africa, a virtual space to discover and learn about contemporary art from Africa and its diasporas. In 2021, Nwagbogu was awarded “Curator of Year 2021” by the Royal Photographic Society, UK. In 2023, Nwagbogu was appointed “Explorer at Large” by National Geographic Society to serve as an ambassador for the Organization and receive support to continue his storytelling work across Africa and globally, a title bestowed on a select few global change makers. Most recently in 2024, Nwagbogu curated the first ever Benin Pavilion at the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale.