Biennials and Triennials in the 21st Century
TUESDAY • May 18, 2021
12:00 PM HST via Zoom
Biennials and Triennials in the 21st Century:
Locally Resonant, Globally Relevant
Artistic Directors Diana Nawi and Naima J. Keith (Prospect.5, New Orleans) join Associate Curators Drew Kahu‘āina Broderick and Miwako Tezuka (Hawai‘i Triennial 2022) in a panel discussion to explore the role of the contemporary art biennial/triennial in a dramatically altered social, cultural, and political landscape. This panel will examine the public mandates of such international art exhibitions, consider the curatorial methodologies of site responsive exhibitions, and the oscillating role of curators as art historians and exhibition makers.
Moderated by Jaimey Hamilton Faris, Associate Professor of Critical Theory and Contemporary Art, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa.
Registration required.
DIANA NAWI
Diana Nawi is an independent curator based in Los Angeles and the Susan Brennan Co-Artistic Director of Prospect.5, New Orleans. Most recently she organized Mark Bradford: Los Angeles at the Long Museum, Shanghai, and Michael Rakowitz: Dispute between the Tamarisk and the Date Palm at REDCAT, Los Angeles. Nawi previously served as Associate Curator at Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) for five years, where she curated exhibitions and published catalogues including John Dunkley: Neither Day nor Night, Nari Ward: Sun Splashed, Iman Issa: Heritage Studies, and Adler Guerrier: Formulating a Plot. While at PAMM Nawi produced newly commissioned projects with a range of international artists including Haroon Mirza, Matthew Ronay, Shana Lutker, Nicole Cherubini, Yael Bartana, Bouchra Khalili, and LOS JAICHACKERS (Julio César Morales and Eamon Ore-Giron). Prior to joining PAMM, Nawi worked as an assistant curator on the Abu Dhabi Project of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and served as a fellow at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Her writing has appeared in publications for the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, Marrakech Biennial, National Gallery of Jamaica, New Museum, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Studio Museum of Harlem, among others. She received her BA from UCLA and her MA from the Williams Graduate Program in the History of Art.
NAIMA J. KEITH
Naima J. Keith is the Vice President of Education and Public Programs at Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) where she is responsible for overseeing youth, family, school, teacher, as well as adult, film and music programs. Keith previously served as the Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the California African American Museum (CAAM), where she guided the curatorial and education departments as well as marketing and communications. While at CAAM, she curated exhibitions with artists Genevieve Gaignard, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, and Gary Simmons, among many others. She was the 2017 recipient of the David C. Driskell Prize in recognition of her contributions to the field of African American art history, and is the Susan Brennan Co-Artistic Director of Prospect.5 in New Orleans, opening fall 2020.
From 2011-2016, Keith was an Associate Curator at the Studio Museum in Harlem and organized exhibitions with a variety of artists, including Rodney McMillian, Titus Kaphar, and Charles Gaines. Keith has also held a curatorial position at the Hammer Museum, serving as the primary contact for the groundbreaking exhibition Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles 1960–1980, organized by guest curator Kellie Jones. She has lectured extensively and her essays have appeared in numerous publications. Keith holds degrees from Spelman College and UCLA and is a proud native of Los Angeles.
