Conferences

Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present Conference
University of Washington, Seattle and Bothell
October 4-7, 2023

“Moving Through A Neon Igbo Girl’s World: Sheila Chukwulozie’s Filmmaking, Performance, and Installation Practices” explores the role of movement in Nigerian woman filmmaker Sheila Chukwulozie’s film Temple (2020—) and in film installations.

Yearning for the World: Mediating Proximity after Distanced Times, the University of Pennsylvania Cinema and Media Studies Graduate Conference
University of Pennsylvania
February 18-19, 2022

“‘Vivid Escapisms for an Interior’: Curating and Archiving a Virtual Festival in Quarantine” explores how curatorial platforms archived their virtual programming in 2020, looking at AFRICA SALON UK as a case study.

Edible Undercurrents: Food in Art History, the 56th Annual UCLA Art History Graduate Symposium
University of California, Los Angeles (virtual event)
November 5, 2021
Presented “Curating Zina Saro-Wiwa’s Table Manners (2014-2016),” a paper exploring artist-filmmaker Zina Saro-Wiwa’s Table Manners (2014-2016) from a curator’s perspective, observing how the artist questions colonial legacies by turning her lens on Nigerian eating practices. 

4th Learning and Teaching Conference
SOAS University of London
June 9, 2017

With Dr. Lindiwe Dovey, presented framework for incorporating positionality and lived experience into SOAS classrooms.

From the abstract:

The framework intends to open awareness of positionality in relation to a subject matter and designate time for students to vocalise emotional responses to the material should they arise. We are of the opinion that no creator of knowledge, academic, creative or otherwise, is completely neutral in terms of the lens through which they generate material. Equally, within the university environment, every student should feel able to engage with, and express a response to class material. Therefore, this proposal intends to engage respectful awareness around potential sensitivities that may arise, thus aiming to open a space for constructive and considerate dialogue between peers in the hope to reduce microaggressions that could make the classroom environment feel unsafe in any way. It also intends to encourage students to critically engage with positionalities in their selection and use of theory.

Podcasts and Radio

Where We Live — Nigeria: Stories From the Coast of West Africa
WNPR

This hour, we feature stories and sounds from the West African country of Nigeria. 

First, WSHU reporter Ebong Udoma checks in from Abuja, Nigeria, where he's helped launch a brand new multimedia project called Gotel Africa. When completed, Gotel Africa will become the continent's first-ever pan-African news service. We learn more about it. 

We also talk to a local author and photographer whose new book, Summer in Igboland, paints an intimate portrait of Nigerian life and identity. And later, Afropop Worldwide’s Banning Eyre tells us about the vibrant music scene in Lagos, Nigeria.

GUESTS:

Ebong Udoma - WSHU's Connecticut State Capitol reporter; he is currently working on a new multimedia project called Gotel Africa
Ifeanyi Awachie - Curator of Yale's Africa Salon; author and photographer behind the new book Summer in Igboland
Banning Eyre - Senior editor and producer of Afropop Worldwide

Lectures and Talks

Slade School of Fine Art Contemporary Art Lecture
Virtual event
October 13, 2021
Presented a series of curatorial and scholarly projects exploring contemporary Nigeria and Black feminism.

 “Archiving the African Feminist Festival through Oral Communication and Social Media”
Royal College of Art (virtual event)
October 21, 2020
Invited to lead session of Fugitive Voices, guest-based talk series curated by Dr. Eleni Ikoni-adou, Senior Tutor (Research), MA Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art, drawing on research on archiving, African feminism, and festival curation. 

2020 AKO Caine Prize Conversation
Virtual event
July 20, 2020

Invited by the Royal African Society to moderate a conversation between Erica Sugo Anyadike, Chikodili Emelumadu, Jowhor Ile, Rémy Ngamije, and Irenosen Okojie, writers shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing.

Poetry

Selected appearances

Five Poems for Toni Morrison
With Victoria Adukwei Bulley, Leo Hermitt, Kareem Reid and Selina Nwulu
Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, England
March 13, 2020

Poetry Is Not a Luxury
With Momtaza Mehri, Belinda Zhawi, and others 
SOAS, University of London, London, England
September 28, 2017

Arresting Patterns Conference: Perspectives on Race, Criminal Justice, Artistic Expression, and Community
With Titus Kaphar, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Aaron Jafferis, and others
Artspace, New Haven, CT
September 13, 2015

Panels

Cultura e Diversidade, Feira Preta
Praça das Artes, São Paulo, BR
November 19, 2018

Alongside Jude Kelly of Women of the World Festival, Ifeanyi Awachie discusses the importance of diverse curatorial voices at the largest Afro-Brazilian event in Latin America.

Co/producing feminist knowledge: a critical exchange
Tate Modern, London, UK
June 16, 2018

Ifeanyi Awachie presents her work at Co/producing Feminist Knowledge, a panel taking conflicts between feminists as a starting point to explore how feminist activists, artists and academics might come together to collectively produce feminist knowledge and protest. The discussion examines whose feminist knowledge counts, who can speak for whom and how feminist activists and artists might build solidarity despite the very real conflicts between them.

Narratives of Hope? Curating Africa in the European Context
University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
May 8, 2017

North South Lines hosts Ifeanyi Awachie at its first event, “Narratives of Hope? Curating Africa in the European Context,” a panel reflecting on how (Southern) African history and culture has been framed in recent European exhibitions (for example: Magisch Afrika, 2014, Design Africa 2015-2016, Afrika 010, 2016, Art of a nation, 2016-2017, Goede Hoop 2017) in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, and how this reflects the changing discourse between Europe and Africa.

Emerging Social Entrepreneurs and Cultural Brokers, 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair
Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, NY
May 7, 2016

Exploring the changing dynamics and growing interest in contemporary art and cultures of Africa and African Diaspora, this panel spotlights an upcoming generation of African social entrepreneurs who are seizing the opportunity to mobilize new platforms of discussion. With discussants Ifeanyi Awachie (Curator of Africa Salon: Yale University’s contemporary African arts and culture festival); Shimite Obialo (lawyer and Founder of the digital platform Anoko); Sharon Obuobi (Founder of Art Accra); and Amy Sall (Founder and Editor-In-Chief of SUNU Journal of African Affairs, Critical Thought + Aesthetics). Moderated by Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi.