Tate and Guaranty Trust Bank today announced that Elvira Dyangani Ose has been appointed Curator International Art at Tate Modern, generously supported by Guaranty Trust Bank. Born in 1974 in Cordoba, Spain, Dyangani Ose, is a well-known curator and scholar in the field of African art. She will take up her post in early November and curate the Guaranty Trust Bank annual project for Tate Modern as well as contribute her expertise to the Collection and Tate programmes.
The post is supported as part of the partnership between Tate and Guaranty Trust Bank, announced in July 2011 and the new Curator will help to broaden Tate’s international reach in Africa. Tate aims to provide a platform for African artists to be seen by audiences world-wide, to heighten awareness of the impact of African art on modern and contemporary practice and to firmly place these artists at the heart of the contemporary art world. The partnership with Guaranty Trust Bank involves the creation of the curatorial post at Tate Modern, an Acquisition Fund and an annual project.
Elvira Dyangani Ose is completing her PhD (Master of Arts) in History of Art and Visual Studies at Cornell University, New York. She holds a Master’s degree in Theory and History of Architecture, from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, and a BA degree in Art History, from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
She has developed numerous interdisciplinary projects, focusing on the politics of representation and the role of artists in history-making. Her recent curatorial projects have included two solo exhibitions: the retrospective, Carrie Mae Weems: Social Studies (2010) and the survey show, Nontsikelelo Veleko: Welcome to Paradise (2009); as well as interdisciplinary collective projects, Attempt to Exhaust an African Place (2007-8) and Africalls? (2007). She was the General Curator of the Arte invisible programme – a multidisciplinary project showcasing artists, artist collectives, curators, and other experts in the field, from Africa and the Diaspora – at ARCOmadrid, in 2009 and 2010.
Previously, Dyangani Ose worked as Curator of African art at the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where she produced the exhibitions Olvida quién soy/ Erase me from who I am (2006) and Tres Escenarios (2005). She also served as curator at the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville.
She was invited as a guest curator to the triennial SUD-Salon Urbain de Douala in 2010, and will again be among their curators for the 2013 edition. Earlier this year, she was appointed Artistic Director of Picha Reencounters 2012, the third edition of the Lubumbashi Biennial.
Elvira Dyangani Ose’s role will complement that of Kerryn Greenberg recently appointed Curator International Art at Tate Modern who leads Tate’s newly formed African Acquisitions Committee. Kerryn Greenberg recently curated Contested Terrains in the Level 2 Gallery at Tate Modern and has worked closely with the African community building knowledge and expertise. Contested Terrains, on display until 16 October 2011, is the first of three annual projects to be supported by Guaranty Trust Bank. Co-curated by Tate and Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) Lagos curators, the exhibition will travel to CCA Lagos in January 2012.
On 6 September 2011, the Africa Acquisitions Committee (AAC) was launched to support Tate in collecting art from Africa.
