“Is there such a thing that could rigorously link worked objects to their genesis and, at the same time, integrate their testimonies into a history of the society that produces them? Are not these objects simple remnants of an ancient practice that is disappearing in the burgeoning of second-rate objects for tourists and airport shops?.” —V. Y. Mudimbe
Facilitated by curator, writer, and scholar-critic KJ Abudu, this group will read and discuss an excerpt from V. Y. Mudimbe’s “The Idea of Africa” in the context of the exhibition Ideas of Africa: Portraiture and Political Imagination. Mudimbe’s ideas will guide our examination of works by west- and central-African photographers in the exhibition. Among the questions we will address are, What geopolitical tides do they capture, what relevance do such historical shifts bear on the present, and what use is the category of art in exploring these questions?
This session will take place in person at MoMA. No prior preparation or background is necessary to participate. We will read the text together during the session and you will receive advance access to the text as well. There will be time for collective and small group discussions during this program, and time to view the exhibition.
This session is part of MoMA’s Reading Group series. Our intention is to create space for people to gather to consider a range of perspectives and think critically through guided readings of key texts that can help illuminate new ways of looking at art in MoMA’s galleries. Our priority is to create a space comfortable enough for participants to take risks with their thinking and possibly find a sense of fellowship, community, and camaraderie with the facilitator and their fellow readers. This program is free, open to all, and takes place in the galleries and in the Crown Creativity Lab.
KJ Abudu is a curator, writer, and scholar-critic based between New York, London, and Lagos. Informed by anti-colonial/anti-imperial critique, Black radical thought, and Indigenous philosophies, his writings and exhibitions focus on critical art and discursive practices that respond to the world-historical conditions produced by racial/colonial-capitalist modernity. Abudu recently curated Traces of Ecstasy at the 4th Lagos Biennial and the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond (2024). He is currently an associate curator at Swiss Institute, New York, where he oversees public programs and has curated exhibitions including Nolan Oswald Dennis: overturns (for which he convened the Black Earth Study Club) (2025), Deborah-Joyce Holman: Close-Up (2025), Kobby Adi: Cloisters & Instruments (2024), and Tiran Willemse: Dweller (2026). Other exhibitions include Clocking Out: Time Beyond Management at Artists Space and e-flux Screening Room, New York (2023), and Living with Ghosts at Pace Gallery, London, and Wallach Art Gallery, New York (2022). Abudu is the editor of Living with Ghosts: A Reader (2022). His writings have been featured in e-flux, Mousse, Frieze, and numerous other art publications and museum catalogues.
Accessibility
American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation is available for public programs upon request with two weeks’ advance notice. MoMA will make every effort to provide accommodation for requests made with less than two weeks’ notice. Please contact [email protected] to make a request for these accommodations.
Wheelchair accessible seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
For more information on accessibility at MoMA, please visit moma.org/Visit/Accessibility/.
Major funding is provided by the Agnes Gund Education Endowment Fund for Public Programs, the Jeanne Thayer Young Scholars Fund, and the Annual Education Fund.