The Dak'Art Dilemma - Curating Vision Beyond Biennial Politics in the Dakarois Artistic Landscape
Public Deposited- Last Modified
- February 26, 2019
- Creator
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Clager, Hannah
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Art and Art History, Art History
- Abstract
- The Dak’Art biennial is a state-sponsored contemporary and pan-African artistic event and exhibition held in Dakar, Senegal, that brings together international artists and curators from all continents to engage with and to promote African artists on a global platform. Contemporary African artists have been historically marginalized in the global art scene, as such Dak’Art offers itself as a corrective to this as the only major pan-African art biennial of its kind. Despite international and governmental support for Dak’Art, local and exhibitionary politics often hinder and challenge the vision, execution, and success of large-scale global art fairs. By examining this case study of the 2012 Dak’Art biennial through both a visual analysis of select IN and OFF exhibition sites and an ethnographic analysis of Senegalese artistic production and oral histories, I aimed at illuminating some of the greater issues and frameworks inscribed in the biennial format as applied and experienced within a Senegalese context. By looking directly at the author’s interactions at the 2012 Dak’Art biennial, and through interviews held with local artists, curators, critics, and government officials the author assesses whether this biennial model is an effective platform for artistic agency in the Dakarois artistic landscape. More than ever it is essential to remember that these international art biennials continue to be affixed to the local, and it is important not to neglect or diminish these local histories and contexts or the role that artists play in them, as the scholarship and proliferation of international art biennials continues as a popular medium of exhibiting contemporary artworks today.
- Date of publication
- autumn 2013
- Keyword
- DOI
- Resource type
- Rights statement
- In Copyright
- Note
- Funding: SURF Fellowship, C.V. Starr Fellowship, Spirit Square Center for the Arts, Gilman International Scholarship, Allcott Travel Fellowship, Garland Johnson Scholarship Fund, School for International Training Scholarship
- Advisor
- Magee, Carol
- Degree
- Bachelor of Arts
- Honors level
- Honors
- Degree granting institution
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Extent
- 52
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