Nigeria Content Online

US-based Nigerian
curator and art historian, Okwui Enwezor, has been appointed the new
director of German art museum, Haus der Kunst, located in Munich.

A release from the
organisation disclosed that Enwezor will take over from Chris Dercon,
the outgoing director later in October.Enwezor, who has been active in
academic and curatorial fields, is currently Adjunct curator at
International Centre of Photography, New York, and Joanne Cassulo
Fellow at the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study
Programme in New York City.

The appointment is
the latest for the man who initially left Nigeria in the 1980s to study
Political Science and Literature in the US before delving into Art
History. He was recently appointed chief curator of La Triennale, Paris
2012 and serves as advisory curator of ‘Dublin Contemporary’ in 2011.

The curator who has
already accepted the offer said, “I am immensely delighted and honoured
to be joining Haus der Kunst in the next phase of its growth in the
global landscape of contemporary art. In the last decade, Haus der
Kunst has been a place of great vitality and a formidable voice in
advancing the key argument that serious contemporary art is as varied
as the artists whose practices have been presented in its exhibitions.
Munich is a great city that represents many crossroads of the global
community and I look forward to working with the team at the Haus der
Kunst in building an exciting platform for exhibitions, debates, and
ideas.”

The appointment is
a sort of home coming for Enwezor who is not new to Munich’s public.
His 2001 exhibition, ‘The Short Century: Independence and Liberation
Movements in Africa 1945-1994’, presented the most extensive overview
to date of artistic production in late and postcolonial Africa.

The first non-European to direct the still talked about Documenta II
in Kassel, Germany has also directed several other major exhibitions.
He was artistic director of the second Johannesburg Biennale in South
Africa held from 1996 to 1997. He curated the Biennale for Contemporary
Art Seville titled ‘The Unhomely: Phantom Scenes in Global Society’ in
2006 and the 7th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea in 2007-2008 The German
minister for education said of the new director and his vast
experience, “Okwui Enwezor brilliantly directed Documenta 11 in 2002,
creating outstanding art experiences that continue to impact the world
of art. As artistic director Mr Enwezor held leading positions in
Seville and Johannesburg. He is anchored in both the European and
international art scene like few other figures.”