Light Work and The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, Sharjah are pleased to present a limited podcast series titled Everything is Connected, African Artists & Curators in the 60th edition of the Venice Biennale . Hosted by writer, curator, and producer Folasade Ologundudu, this six-part series engages in insightful dialogues with artists and curators from the African diaspora participating in the historic 60th edition of the Venice Biennale. Through these conversations, Ologundudu explores the creative forces at play and delves into the societal contexts that shape the artistic practices across various disciplines including painting, sculpture, installation, film, and art history.

In each episode, Ologundudu engages with participants representing Nigeria, Benin, Egypt, Angola, and more at the 60th Venice Biennale, which celebrated unprecedented diversity as 13 African countries participated and marked the largest African representation in the Biennale’s history. Participants of the podcast series include: Aindrea Emelife, curator of the Nigerian pavilion; Azu Nwagbogu curator of the first-ever Republic of Benin pavilion; the South African collective MADEYOULOOK, consisting of Molemo Moiloa and Nare Mokgotho; Wael Shawky, representing Egypt for the first time, at the Egyptian pavilion in the Giardini, and more.

Episodes were developed as curators were preparing for their presentations before the vernissage, during the VIP opening week in April of 2024, and in the weeks that followed. This approach captures the critical arc of each participant’s inclusion, which investigates not only the artists and curators’ intentions behind their work, but also their reflections of the impact they hope to have in the presentations of their art and ideas on topics such as African modernism, a return to indigenous knowledge, the rewriting of history through art, and the post-colonial identities of nations from the global South.