Eaten By The Heart is a video installation and documentary project conceived, produced and directed by film-maker and video artist, Zina Saro-Wiwa. This online documentary (above) is the final installment in a series of three online films that form part of this project for The Progress of Love. Commissioned by The Menil Collection, Houston and… [Read more…]

Screenings, 7th December  In Difficult Love (2010), Zaneli Muholi’s documentary with filmmaker Peter Goldsmid, the camera is turned on the lives of a homeless couple, a transgender traditional healer, and a lesbian single mom as well as on the artist in a candid portrayal of their lives and everyday realities. Andrew Esiebo’s multimedia work Living Queer African (2007), documents the… [Read more…]

The Menil Collection and The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts launched a dialogue last month in which six professionals respond to three questions sparked by the exhibition, The Progress of Love. You can read the first round of dialogue here: How are romantic relationships being redefined and visualized in the 21st century? and the second round here: Where does… [Read more…]

The Menil Collection and The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts launched a dialogue earlier this month in which six professionals respond to three questions sparked by the exhibition, The Progress of Love. You can read the first round of dialogue here: How are romantic relationships being redefined and visualized in the 21st century? This week we… [Read more…]

The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts hosted an Un-Valentine’s Day last Thursday, February 14 as part of Sound Waves, an ongoing collaboration with 88.1 KDHX. The Foehners blues duo performed live, eight poets from the Fort Gondo Poetry Series spoke to the complications of love, entre whipped up cotton candy and blood orange truffles, and… [Read more…]

Video Performance Wura-Natasha Ogunji: Radio Kaduna Saturday, February 16, 2013, 7:00 p.m. Presented in conjunction with the Aurora Picture Show, Radio Kaduna is a live performance with video that explores the meanings of true love within a Muslim-Christian household in pre-independence Nigeria. This story emerges against the backdrop of contemporary (armed) conflicts between Muslims and… [Read more…]

Eaten By The Heart is a video installation and documentary project conceived, produced and directed by film-maker and video artist, Zina Saro-Wiwa. Commissioned by The Menil Collection, Houston and supported by the Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC.org) for the Menil’s exhibition The Progress of Love, the piece explores intimacy, heartbreak and love performances… [Read more…]

By David B. Olsen, Lead Gallery Assistant at The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts I am not a fan of Valentine’s Day. Actually, it’s more like I am an old man and Valentine’s Day is a bunch of kids on my front lawn; the whole scene makes me unnecessarily grumpy and uncharacteristically bitter. I have… [Read more…]

The Menil Collection and The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts are asking six professionals three questions that correspond to the exhibition, The Progress of Love. Contributors are Ryan Dennis, Massa Lemu, Solkem N’Gangbet, Temitayo Ogunbiyi, Amy Powell, and Charlotte Walker-Said. For the first installment of this dialogue, we want to know: How are romantic relationships being redefined… [Read more…]

This is essay is reprinted from the MFAH Core catalogue, Core 2012 Yearbook, © 2012.  This essay is also featured on www.artandeducation.net. In his work Nigerian artist Emeka Ogboh records the sounds of Lagos, particularly focusing on the noise of danfo and molue buses, and installs his soundscapes in the milieu of other cities. This… [Read more…]

Banning Eyre, Senior Editor of Afropop Worldwide, a radio program and online magazine dedicated to music from Africa and African Diaspora, visited St. Louis for Sound Waves on Thursday, January 17. He spoke publicly with Chris King, Editorial Director of the St. Louis American, about the various cultural influences that shape African music and how that music resonates throughout the world.… [Read more…]

For more information about Sam Fentress and his work, visit samfentress.com.

Closing Performance Piece of The Progress of Love. Sat 26th January at Ejigbo, Lagos 2pm Free Bus leaves from CCA,Lagos at 12.30pm Join Us!!! Over the past four months CCA,Lagos has presented a dynamic and diverse perspective on the idea of Love through performances, performative and interactive installations, videos and films. The public programme has… [Read more…]

Attend a free panel discussion on African cinema at the Menil Collection Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 7:00 p.m with speakers Kristina Van Dyke, Mahen Bonetti, Andrew Dosunmu Hear Kristina Van Dyke, curator of The Progress of Love, and Mahen Bonetti, curator of the eight-part series of African films that accompanies it, discuss the making of… [Read more…]

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston and The Menil Collection present Shades of Love: Romance in Contemporary African Cinema January & March 2013 This film series has been organized in collaboration with The Menil Collection and its exhibition The Progress of Love, on view December 2, 2012-March 17, 2013. Guest film curator for the series… [Read more…]

Tamara H. Schenkenberg Assistant Curator for Special Projects, The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts The Progress of Love is a three-part, intercontinental project that proposes a new mode of collaboration between arts institutions. Organized by the Centre for Contemporary Art in Lagos, Nigeria, The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in St. Louis, Missouri, and The… [Read more…]

The Progress of Love On view December 2, 2012 – March 17, 2013 The Menil Collection 1533 Sul Ross St Houston, TX 77006 www.menil.org Opening Reception Saturday, Dec 2, 5:30-7:30 pm Free and open to the public The Progress of Love is a collaborative project between the Menil Collection, Houston; the Centre for Contemporary Art,… [Read more…]

By Carianne Noga, Artist Sophie Calle is a conceptual artist, a photographer-meets-editorialist. Sophie Calle is a chic, mysterious, middle-aged French woman who sometimes smokes cigarettes and can be caught wearing sunglasses indoors. She is internationally famous and at times borders on infamous. And since hearing her speak about her work at Washington University’s Steinberg Auditorium… [Read more…]

Please join us as we celebrate CCA,Lagos’ 5th Anniversary and the next iteration of The Progress of Love. From Friday 7th till Sunday 9th December we have a line up of programs taking place as part of the The Progress of Love. Venue: Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos 9 McEwen Street, Sabo, Yaba, Lagos Dates… [Read more…]

The Progress of Love: Valerie Oka Opening Reception Saturday 20 October 2012, 4pm – 9pm Talk by Artist Valerie Oka, 5pm Live Performance Dinner 6.30-8pm Exhibition Continues to 10th November 2012 Warning: Due to the Adult content, this exhibition is not suitable for persons under 18yrs old. The Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos is pleased… [Read more…]

By Lola Oladini, Undergraduate in the College of Arts and Scienes at Washington University in St. Louis On Wednesday, November 7th, British-Nigerian film-maker and video artist Zina Saro-Wiwa was invited by the African Students Association of Washington University in St. Louis to speak about her work. She showed clips from her film, This is My… [Read more…]

Eaten By The Heart is a video installation and documentary project conceived, produced and directed by film-maker and video artist, Zina Saro-Wiwa. Commissioned by The Menil Collection, Houston and supported by the Houston Museum of African American Culture (HMAAC.org) for the Menil’s exhibition The Progress of Love, the piece explores intimacy, heartbreak and love performances… [Read more…]

The Progress of Love On view 13th October 2012 – 27th January 2013 Centre for Contemporary Arts, Lagos 9 McEwen Street, Sabo, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria T 234 702 836 7106 www.ccalagos.org Opening Saturday, 20th October, 4-9 PM The Progress of Love is a collaborative project between the Menil Collection, Houston; the Centre for Contemporary Art,… [Read more…]

The Progress of Love On view November 16, 2012 – April 20, 2013 The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts 3716 Washington Blvd St. Louis, Missouri 63108 www.pulitzerarts.org Opening Reception Friday, November 16, 5-9 pm Free and open to the public The Progress of Love is a collaborative project between the Menil Collection, Houston; the Centre… [Read more…]

Wednesday, 7:30 pm Featuring the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra The Pulitzer and St. Louis Symphony Orchestra continue their ongoing collaborative concert series aimed at exploring the unique ways in which music, art, and architecture are experienced in the Tadao Ando building. The concerts are programmed by David Robertston, St. Louis Symphony Music Director, in direct… [Read more…]

Thursday, 6:00-9:00 pm The Pulitzer and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (CAM) join forces for a unique Valentine’s Day program. The Pulitzer will feature Sound Waves, a collaboration with 88.1 KDHX, which creates a soundtrack of both live and recorded music in which to discover new ways of experiencing the Pulitzer’s current exhibition, The Progress of Love.  The… [Read more…]

Thursday, 6:00-9:00 pm Featuring Banning Eyre, Senior Editor of Afropop Worldwide Banning Eyre, Senior Editor of Afropop Worldwide, a radio program and online magazine dedicated to music from Africa and African Diaspora, will visit St. Louis for Sound Waves. The program combines the power of discussion with live and recorded music. Discussion begins at 7:00pm.… [Read more…]

b. 1973, Blantyre, Malawi Billie Zangewa attended Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa, receiving a BFA in graphics and printmaking in 1995. After graduation, Zangewa moved to Johannesburg, where she continues to reside. She worked in the fashion and advertising industries before devoting her time wholly to art. Drawing upon her understanding of textiles and… [Read more…]

b. 1962, London Born in London, Yinka Shonibare, MBE, moved to Lagos at the age of three. He returned to London to take a BA in fine art from the Byam Shaw School of Art (now Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design), University of the Arts London, and, like many of the “Young… [Read more…]

b. 1976, Port Harcourt, Nigeria Zina Saro-Wiwa was born in Nigeria and grew up in the United Kingdom, graduating from the University of Bristol. She has been involved in journalism and media since her teen years, working for BBC television and radio and writing for the Sunday Times and other publications. Saro-Wiwa now works primarily… [Read more…]

b. 1968, London Born to African parents, conceptual artist Nadine Robinson grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, before immigrating to New York City, where she continues to live and work. She graduated from Stony Brook University, NY, with a BA in fine arts in 1995 and received her MA in studio arts from New York University… [Read more…]

b. 1924, Maputo; d. 2009, Maputo Ricardo Rangel was raised by his grandmother on the outskirts of Maputo (then called Lourenço Marques). He began his career in 1941 as an apprentice in the photography lab of Otílio Vasconcelos, where he honed his black-and-white printing skills. Within a few years, he was working as a printer… [Read more…]

b. 1972, Chicago Senam Okudzeto is of American and Ghanaian parentage and spent her childhood living in the United States, England, Ghana, and Nigeria. Informed by and drawing upon this transnational background, Okudzeto works with a wide range of mediums, including installation, painting, film, and text, to explore ideas of global connectivity, modernity, and the… [Read more…]

b. 1967, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire Born to a French mother and a father from Côte d’Ivoire, Valérie Oka grew up in France. She graduated from the École Supérieure d’Arts Graphiques, Paris, in 1990. In addition to her artistic practice, she has worked as a graphic designer; a professor of contemporary art at the Institut National… [Read more…]

b. 1970, St. Louis Wura-Natasha Ogunji received a BA in anthropology from Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, in 1992 and a MFA in photography from San Jose State University, CA, in 1998. She currently lives and works in Austin, TX. A performance and visual artist who works in a variety of mediums, Ogunji is perhaps… [Read more…]

b. 1984, Rochester, NY Born to Nigerian and Jamaican parents, Temitayo Ogunbiyi grew up in Lower Gwynedd, PA. She graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University, NJ, with a BA in art history in 2006 and went on to obtain a MA from Columbia University, New York City, in 2011. Ogunbiyi also completed Yale University’s… [Read more…]

b. 1977, Lagos Born and raised in Lagos, where he continues to live and work, Emeka Ogboh received a BA in fine and applied arts from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, in 2001. Predominately working with sound, video, and photography, Ogboh explores the multidimensional character of cities, in particular his hometown and other “third world”… [Read more…]

b. 1985, Ife, Nigeria Nigerian-born Toyin Odutola grew up mostly in Alabama, receiving her BA from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. She recently finished her MFA in painting and drawing at the California College of the Arts, San Francisco. Odutola creates intricate and laboriously rendered portraits. Using ballpoint pen, markers, and ink, she builds… [Read more…]

b. 1978, London Writer, director, and producer Adaora Nwandu grew up in both Nigeria and the United Kingdom. She studied psychology, neurophysiology, and philosophy at Oxford University, obtaining her BA and MA. After graduating, she returned Nigeria to serve in the National Youth Service Corps and spent two years working for the media NGO Communicating… [Read more…]

b. 1972, Umlazi, South Africa Zanele Muholi addresses issues of race, feminism, and homosexuality as both an activist and an artist. She is a founder of the Forum for the Empowerment of Women, a non-profit organization based in Johannesburg that provides social and political support to black lesbians and transsexuals, and has worked as a… [Read more…]

b. 1960, Durban, South Africa South African artist Zwelethu Mthethwa holds a diploma in fine arts from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town, and received a MFA in imaging arts in 1989 from the Rochester Institute of Technology, NY, on a Fulbright scholarship. A few years after returning to South Africa,… [Read more…]

b. 1962, Porto Novo, Benin Romuald Hazoumé began his artistic career in the late 1980s without any formal artistic training. Though raised in a Catholic family, he remains connected to West African Vodun, which he often uses as a guiding principal or inspiration for his work. Hazoumé uses salvaged materials as an artistic medium, transforming… [Read more…]

b. 1965, New York City Lyle Ashton Harris was raised in Dar Es Salaam and New York City, where he currently lives and works. He graduated with honors from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT, in 1988 and received his MFA from the California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, in 1990. Harris has used photography to… [Read more…]

b. 1957, Guáimaro, Cuba; d. 1996, Miami Born in Cuba, at the age of fourteen Felix Gonzalez-Torres moved to Puerto Rico to live with his aunt and uncle. After relocating to New York City in 1979, he earned a BFA from the Pratt Institute in 1983. Four years later, he received a MA from the… [Read more…]