Rendez-vous de l'Institut: The Fellows' Series

Karimah Ashadu
Yielding to Resilience: A Visual Inquiry into Practices of Independence

  • Thu, April 1, 2021 | 4:00 p.m. (Paris) | 10 a.m. (New York)
  • Zoom video conference
  • Watch the video below

In conversation with the writer and curator Greg de Cuir Jr., Artist Karimah Ashadu discusses a selection of moving image work produced throughout the years; "Brown Goods" (2020), "Power Man" (2018) and "Red Gold" (2016) in relation to current work in progress "Plateau" (2021). In these films, made within the social-economic context of Nigeria, Ashadu probes notions of independence, value and patriarchy, under the arc of labour. "Plateau" is commissioned by Fondazione In Between Art Film for the project "A Foreign Language" and co-produced by Golddust by Ashadu.

At the Institute for Ideas and Imagination, Ashadu is scripting Saltmine, a fictional feature film set in Senegal. Saltmine tells the story of Jàmbaar, a young, tenacious salt miner who dreams of escaping the monotony of labour to a new life in Hamburg. Through personal reflection and socio-historical contextualization, Ashadu and de Cuir Jr. meditate on Saltmine. Script development is also supported by Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein and ZEIT-Stiftung Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius.

About the speakers

Karimah Ashadu (b. London 1985) is a British-Nigerian Artist living and working between Hamburg and Lagos. Ashadu's practice is concerned with perceptions of self and place, and notions of labour and patriarchy pertaining to the socio-economic context of Nigeria and West Africa. Her work has exhibited and screened at institutions internationally, including Kunstverein in Hamburg; Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig; MoMA, New York and Centre d’Art Contemporain, Genève. Ashadu is the recipient of awards such as the ars viva prize (2020) and the Rotary Club Contemporary art prize (2020). Festival prizes include Ann Arbor Film Festival, European Media Art Festival and Euro Video. Featured Artist of the 64th Robert Flaherty Seminar, New York. Public collections include MoMA and Fonds Municipal d’Art Contemporain de la Ville de Genève. In 2020, Ashadu established her film production company Golddust by Ashadu, specializing in Artists’ films on black culture and African themes.

Greg de Cuir Jr. is an independent curator, writer and translator who lives and works in Belgrade, Serbia. Select projects at can be viewed here.

Read about all the Rendez-vous talks for this semester here.