Tandazani Dhlakama
Conference Report. November 2023
The title of the 2023 CIMAM Annual Conference was very intriguing. The topic felt timely as it spoke to many present-day urgencies affecting the culture and heritage industries. We work in a time where issues around migration, conflict, and climate crisis mark and intensify global political rhetoric. In many parts of the world, both in the global north and south, democratic ideologies are being increasingly tested while underrepresented histories continue to face erasure. Considering this, the conference gave participants the opportunity to deliberate on the multiple ways in which art and cultural institutions can effectively create space for meaningful civic engagement.
As each speaker presented the work they were doing through their various organizations, I became more convinced that critical care and social relevance is driven by individuals. Hence, institutions like museums are merely the vehicles that enable determined people to fulfil important mandates. Without the tenacious, adaptive, responsiveness of people, institutions risk losing relevance, regardless of scale, funding, and type of collection. I would like to thank CIMAM for creating a platform for us to hear from phenomenal people who are working with or through a wide range of spaces, alongside communities to highlight important narratives in different parts of the world.
It is difficult to think of social agency and ethics without also reflecting on care. Indeed, the global pandemic brought with it much discourse on institutional critique and notions of care. In some instances, this discourse did not tangibly lead to transformation, however, it was refreshing to see how, in nuanced ways, each speaker was personally advocating for more forms of care in their own uniquely positioned organizations. Their provocations ranged from interrogating ableism and rethinking indigenous participation to commenting on how museums make docents suffer through immersive sound installations.
On the first day, we were reminded that people may have lost trust in many systems, however, they still engage and have hope in museums. Simon Njami challenged us to “think through the words we use,” to find systems of self-critique and build outside the norms. Coco Fusco reminded us to diplomatically negotiate and know who you are speaking to so that conversation continues even when it is frustrating.
Marie Hélène Pereira demonstrated how institutions can ethically and collaboratively mine their local contexts to bring to the surface sensitive narratives of historical significance. teresa cisneros challenged us to continue holding space for racially minoritized work and to investigate and advocate for “policies of care.” I was inspired by how she spoke about being a “curator of people.” While others care for art objects and archives, she shared how her own work is to empower institutions so they can effectively equip staff and engage with society.
Ana Gallardo provoked us to think about audiences that are often left out, such as senior women. Marian Pastor Roces used the ingenious analogy of mushrooms to discuss institutional critique, cultural ecosystems, and counter methodologies. In keeping with foliage analogies, she mentioned how museums are like trees: though structures exist, certain factors can be organic and instability can be viewed positively. She reminded us that forensic provenance is crucial. Both Luma Hamdan and Yto Barrada’s presentations acknowledged the current Israel-Palestine conflict and poignantly brought the idea of agency and ethics to the fore.
It was wonderful to hear Claudia Zaldívar present her work at the Museo de la Solidaridad Salvador Allende (MSSA), Santiago, Chile, especially as Zeitz MOCAA – where I am Curator – is currently exhibiting Past-Disquiet curated by Kristine Khouri and Rasha Salti, a version of which was hosted by MSSA in 2018. The exhibition highlights solidarity movements or museums for Chile, Palestine, South Africa and Nicaragua, and Zaldívar’s commentary on the para-museum was insightful.
The precariousness of particular archives was highlighted by María Belén Correa and Sidhi Vhisatya who in varying ways have had to find unconventional methods of collecting, securing, and sharing queer archives in Argentina and Indonesia. The political realities in their local contexts makes issues around access pertinent and complex.
The afternoons were filled with countless visits to organizations around the beautiful city of Buenos Aries. This meant that debriefing, deliberation, debate, and knowledge exchange took place informally in-between spaces, on the bus rides, in museum corridors, or late into the night over cocktails when feet were tired from all of the wonderfully choreographed events each day. Attending with a myriad of international delegates meant that I was constantly connecting with colleagues whose work I had admired from afar, or with whom I had collaborated, as well as meeting new people who were all doing fascinating critical work.
With that said, I do hope we can have similar gatherings on the continent of Africa and see more representation from my part of the world within the governance structures of CIMAM.
Bio
Zimbabwean born, Tandazani Dhlakama, is a curator at Zeitz MOCAA where she has worked since 2017. At Zeitz MOCAA she has lead new research processes, managed teams, engaged in the collaborative realization of exhibitions, developed museum publications and public programmes. Dhlakama spearheaded the launch and development of the Zeitz MOCAA & University of the Western Cape (UWC) Museum Fellowship Programme in 2021 and currently co-convenes the pan-African programme.
At Zeitz MOCAA she has co-curated When We See Us: A Century of Black Figuration in Painting (2022), co-curated Shooting Down Babylon: A Tracey Rose Retrospective (2022), co-curated Nobukho Nqaba’s Izicwangciso Zezethu… (2019) and curated Five Bhobh: Painting at the End of an Era (2018) amongst others. Her writing and editorial contribution led to formulation of major publications that accompanied these exhibitions.
Before joining Zeitz MOCAA, Dhlakama worked at the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) in Harare (2011 and 2017) where she held various roles including Curator of Education and Public Programming. There she managed all educational and public programming, directed the National Gallery School of Visual Arts and Design, coordinated the 2nd International Conference on African Cultures (ICAC), raised and managed certain funding aspects and collaborated with various external stakeholders including governmental ones. At the NGZ, Dhlakama was involved in curating several exhibitions including, Engaging with “the Other” (2013), Women at the Top (2014), ZimbabweIN Design (2014 and 2017), Dis(colour)ed Margins (2017) as well as several annual schools and colleges exhibitions.
Dhlakama was part of the curatorial team for the 13th Bamako Encounters - African Biennale of Photography (2022) in Mali. She curated Witness: Afro Perspectives from the Jorge M. Pérez Collection at El Espacio 23 (2020).
In Harare, Dhlakama co-curated These Images Are Stories (2017) in collaboration with British Council Zimbabwe, Zimbo Jam and Impact Hub Islington in Harare. Dhlakama worked as curator at Tsoko Gallery, an independent art space in Harare, where she curated their inaugural exhibition Beyond the Body (2016) and was involved in the establishment of the space. Dhlakama has worked as Gallery Assistant at the Richard F. Brush Art Gallery, St. Lawrence University (2008-2011) and interned at Microspazio Disponibile Art Gallery, Italy (2009), Tizianos Art- Kreemart, USA (2011) and East Street Arts, UK (2015).
Dhlakama’s writing appears in the artist monographs of Georgina Maxim and Wallen Mapondera, in publications such as Audacious Art Practices: Situating the Contemporary Arts of Africa, Plasticity of the Planet: On Environmental Challenge for Art and Its Institutions and on MOMA’s Post: Notes on Art In A Global Context, TSA Collector’s Series: Artists & Cities, Africanah: Arena for Contemporary African, African American and Caribbean Art, ArtLife Magazine to name a few. Dhlakama was an advisor and contributor to African Artists: From 1882 to Now, by Phaidon (2021). Dhlakama serves as a member of the NESR Foundation Artistic Committee in Luanda.
Dhlakama has participated in various curatorial intensives in Africa, including, the Independent Curators International (ICI) Curatorial Intensive in Dakar, Senegal (2016), the Zeitz MOCAA Curatorial Training Program in Cape Town, South Africa (2015) and the New Ideas, New Possibilities Curatorial Forum and Workshop in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (2013).
Dhlakama is Beit Scholar. She holds an MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies from the University of Leeds, UK (2015) where here thesis was on ‘The Impact of New Contemporary Art Spaces in Africa on Various Art-worlds.’ She has BA in Fine Art and Political Science, Magna Cum Laude from St. Lawrence University, USA (2011).
Dhlakama has been a jury member for Sony World Photography Awards, London (2023), Contemporary African Photography Prize (2023) and was part of 2021 Pérez Prize Nominating Team, Miami (2021).