filling the blank space of global art peripheries - purdue e-pubs

Artl@s BulletinVolume 2Issue 2 Do Maps Lie? Article 6

12-12-2013

Filling the Blank Space of Global Art Peripheries:Measurements of Art Mobility and theirAmbivalence in Nairobi, KenyaOlivier MarcelBordeaux 3 University, Les Afriques dans le Monde (LAM, UMR 5115), and the French Institute for Research in Africa (IFRA-Nairobi, USR 3336), [email protected]

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Recommended CitationMarcel, Olivier. "Filling the Blank Space of Global Art Peripheries: Measurements of Art Mobility and their Ambivalence in Nairobi,Kenya." Artl@s Bulletin 2, no. 2 (2013): Article 6.

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52

DoMapsLie?

ARTL@SBULLETIN,Vol.2,Issue2(Fall2013)

FillingtheBlankSpaceofGlobalArtPeripheries:MeasurementsofArtMobilityandtheirAmbivalenceinNairobi,Kenya

AbstractIn recent years, art made in Africa, particularly in the metropolitan context, haswitnessed a substantial increase in attention coming from transnational institutions.Whilemany researchers havepointed out the deceitful nature of contemporary art’sglobalization, this turn of events still challenges the way we conceive the space ofcontemporary art. In this paper I use cartography as a critical tool to approach theinternationalmobilityfacilitatedbytwoartorganizationsbasedinNairobi,Kenya.

RésuméOn assiste depuis quelques années à une forte montée d’intérêt d’institutionstransnationales de l’art pour l’Afrique et cela particulièrement dans le contextemétropolitain. Alors que plusieurs chercheurs ont souligné le côté illusoire de cettemondialisationdel’artcontemporain,cesévènementsinterrogentnéanmoinslafaçondontnousconcevonsl’espacedel’art.Danscetarticle, j’utiliselacartographiecommeoutild’analysecritiquedesmobilités internationales facilitéespardeuxorganisationsartistiquesbaséesàNairobi,auKenya.

OlivierMarcel*Bordeaux3University

* OlivierMarcelofBordeaux3University,LesAfriquesdansleMonde(LAM,UMR5115),andtheFrenchInstituteforResearchinAfrica(IFRA‐Nairobi,USR3336)isageographerinterestedintheworldingofcitiesintheGlobalSouth,pragmaticapproachestomobility,andgeographicalrepresentationsofknowledge.HeiscurrentlycompletinghisPhDthesistitled“TracingArtfromNairobi–GeographyofArtisticMobilityinanEastAfricanMetropolis.”

Marcel– MappingArtMobility

53 ARTL@SBULLETIN,Vol.2Issue2(Fall2013)DoMapsLie?

Introduction: The Blank SpaceSyndromeinArtPeripheries13

In theprocessofmapping themodernworldanddrawing the contours of the continents, earlygeographers invented a conventionalrepresentation: blank space. Before the greatexploration missions, the unknown was literallyfilled with allegoric representations, tribalcharacters, elephants, seamonsters, etc. It isonlyat thebeginningof the18thcentury,at thedawnof colonization, that blankness became a way toexpressuncertaintyorlackofverifiedknowledge.2The ideological underpinnings of this shift incartographicconventionaremadeclearinIsabelleSurun’s research on the mapping of Africa:blanknessnotonly represented theunknownbutalsoservedasaneconomicandscientificincentivetothecolonialenterprise,enticingexplorerstothequestoffillingthemapsandlocatingcommodities.Later, this function was distorted and theremaining blank spaces, areas that were eitherinaccessible or uninteresting to the explorers,wereassociatedwithisolationorbackwardness.Isthe blank space on the early maps of Africa thesame blank space that has been graphically andsymbolically representing peripheries on theworld map of art? In other words, is a lack ofknowledge what prevents us from “creating aplace for peripheries,”3 or are maps biased in awaythatimprisonsAfricainthisblankspace,likeaself‐fulfillingprophesy?

It can be argued that the globalization of art isexperiencing a similar blank space syndrome.Maps – both physical and imaginary – have nowbecomepartandparceloftheworldingofartfromtheSouthandofthespatialturnincontemporaryart. As we will see in this paper, they illustratebrochures and reports of art organizations or

1Thispaperisbasedonapresentationandthefollowingdiscussionsattheconference“GlobalArtHistoryandthePeripheries,”Artl@s,Paris,June12‐14,2013.2IsabelleSurun,“Leblancsurlacarte,matricedenouvellesreprésentationsdesespacesafricaines,”inComblerlesblancsdelacarte:modalitésetenjeuxdelaconstructiondessavoirsgéographiques(XVIIe‐XXesiècle),dir.IsabelleLaboulais‐Lesage(PresseUniversitairedeStrasbourg,2004),117‐144.3BéatriceJoyeux‐Prunel,CatherineDossinandMichelaPassini,“GlobalArtHistoryandthePeripheries,”Artl@sconferenceabstract,2013.

funding corporations, they are underlying in thetitles of exhibitions, in the displayed identity ofartists, and in the national flags of biennale’spavilions.Mostimportantly,mapsareinteriorizedby art actors themselves and performed throughtheir discourses and practices. In this context, ithas become critical to interrogate therepresentationofartspace.Furthermore,itseemsdecisive forthesocialstudyofarttobeequippedwith tools tomeasure the effectiveness of spatialclaimsandclassificationsthathaveproliferatedinartisticdiscourse.

Nairobi is a place where the notion of beingincluded “on the map” is critical. Throughout itsshort history, EastAfrica’s largestmetropolis hasbeenhighlydependenton foreigndonors, foreignmarketsandexteriorassistancethathavejustifiedtheirauthoritybasedontheclaimthatKenyaisadeveloping country and fundamentally aperiphery.4 A recent illustration isanAfricanartauctionthatoccurredinLondoninJune2013andgave exposure to Kenyan art in one of the mostprestigious auction houses. Following the event,the Nairobian art world was in awe and theimaginary map was made quite explicit. A criticandartistfromNairobicommentedontheeventinthe followingterms: “[…]wecanall linger in theglory of what happened at the “Bonhams: AfricaNow” auction where Kenyan art was furtherengrainedon themap, anddeservedly so.”5 Thiswidespreadperceptionisaninvitationtoseriouslyconsider the art geography in such a region. Itshouldbesaidthattheauctionwasforcharityandit’s classification as “African art” tends to restricttheevent toanarrownichewithincontemporaryart. Furthermore, the fact that Kenyan art had totraveltotheoldimperialcapitalto“appearonthemap” is revealing of the spatial hierarchy thatweighsonKenyanartactorsatsuchinternationalevents. Far from the euphoric discourse of thelocal art world, sociologist Alain Quemin warnsabout the deceitful nature of the contemporaryglobalizationofart.Lookingatobjectiveindicators

4OlivierMarcel,“FromTheatreRoyaltoPop‐UpGalleries,aTimelineofArtVenuesinNairobi,”Mambo!ResearchFindingsinEasternAfrica11/3(2013)5ZihanKassam,“TheWordFromBondStreet.”TheStar,June4,2013.


54 DoMapsLie?ARTL@SBULLETIN,Vol.2,Issue2(Fall2013)

fromtheeconomicsphere(auctionsandfairs)andtheinstitutionalsphere(museums,artcentersandbiennials), he demonstrates that non‐westerncountries are still largely excluded frominternational contemporary art.6 However, hisconclusions fail to take into account thecomplexity of what occurs at events such as the“Bonhams: Africa Now” auction. Did the artistswho attend the auction momentarily leave their“peripheral status” back in Nairobi or were theyactuallyperformingtheperipheryinthecourseofthismobility? In fact, the answer to thisquestioninvolvesdifferentconceptionsofcontemporaryartspace.

Quemin’s understanding of a periphery incontemporaryart is limited to “thecountries thatdon’t belong to the double core that is a fewEuropean countries and the United States.”7 Hisapproachisstrictlytopographical:spaceisdefinedby fixed positions and stratified territories. Theperipheryisanything“outside”ofthecenterandistherefore defined by negative space or lack ofsubstance, as revealed by the indicators.Geographershavewrittenextensivelytopointoutthe limits of such a restrictive use of the center‐periphery model.8 For them, the concept ofperiphery should be applied to a relative andevolving position rather than an absolute anddefinitiveone,aplacethatisfundamentallypartofa given system rather than outside of it, and aplacethatexperiencesdissymmetricalinteractionsrather than one that is excluded from them.Following Jacques Lévy’s writings on thephilosophicalapproachestospace,wecantryandput forward the benefits of a topological orrelational approach in the understanding of artperipheries.9 Looking at artist’s internationalmobility, this paper aims to provide somemethodological solutions to take intoaccount the

6AlainQuemin,“L’illusiondel’abolitiondesfrontièresdanslemondedel’artcontemporaininternational:laplacedespays‘périphériques’à‘l’èredelaglobalisationetdumétissage’,”Sociologieetsociétés34/2(2002):15‐40.7Ibid,mytranslation.8JacquesLévy,“Centre/périphérie,”inDictionnairedelaGéographie,dir.J.LévyetM.Lussault(Belin,2003),141;ChristianGrataloup,“Centre/périphérie,”Hypergéo(2004);NadineCattan,“Centre‐Périphérie,”inDictionnairedesmondialisations,ed.CynthiaGhorra‐Gobin(ArmandColin,2006),47‐49.9JacquesLévy,“ACartographicTurn?”EspacesTemps.net/Travaux(2012).

complex relations weaved between center andperiphery.

DecenteringSources

In 1998, geographer Vincent Veschambreattempted to map “where contemporary artistslive and work.”10 Using proportionate circles tolocatetheirwhereabouts,hismapsdisplayedParisand New‐York’s attractiveness within a selectionof artists’ careers and demonstrated how muchtheyarestilldeeplyentrenchedinanunequalanddissymmetricalsystem.Inhisvisualoutput,Africashinesbyitsglaringblankness.Thisblanknesscanbe explained by the type of source used: adirectory of the most internationally renownedartists in the form of an art guide, which waspublishedinFrancebyaFrencharthistorianandmarketed for French art collectors. The maincriterionisthereforeeconomicaccomplishmentinFrench institutions. Veschambre is aware of theinherent bias contained in the source and warnsthat the sampling sharply favors France andEurope. Despite this bias, his mapping is stillaccurate in the sense that it shows centrality ofcities like New‐York or Paris in the westernmarket of contemporary art. This leads to thequestionofhow tomap theperipheryother thanwithmisleadingblankspace?

The Bonhams auction is a testimony of theexistence of peripheral activity that is notaccountedfor in thesourcesusedbyVeschambreor Quemin. Indeed, the eight artists who wereinvitedtotheauctiondidn’tarrivefromnowhere.Before travelling to London, their work wasvalidated by a complex set of intermediaryinstitutions. The periphery can therefore beapproachedbydecenteringthesourceandlookingathowthecenterisactuallyexperiencedoutofthecenter. In Nairobi, two key institutions – theGoethe‐InstitutandKuonaTrust–havebeenverykeen on creating linkages with central networks

10VincentVeschambre,“VitettravailleàNewYorketàParis.Leshauts‐lieuxdelacréation,”Mappemonde52/4(1998):16‐20.



and therefore appear to be at the forefront ofcentre/peripheryrelations.

Figure1

TriangleNetworkbrochure,2002‐2003.

Both theGoethe‐InstitutandKuonaTrustshareastrong internationalist discourse that is wellillustratedbythismap,publishedinapromotionalbrochure for the Triangle Network, a network ofartists that Kuona Trust is part of. While thedesignatedpurpose is to locate centersbelongingto the network, it also appears heavily investedwithaspatialideologythatistolevelthehierarchybetween places. Indeed, every little triangle isidentical, indicating they are all of equalimportance.Thisisfurtherestablishedbythewaythat the network appears inclusive: overlappingspheres conveniently covering entire continents,suggestingtheglobalreachofanetworkthatisnothindered by political boundaries, economicinequalities or national identities. The threesubsetscolorfullybypassNorthandSouthorWestand East divides, creating imaginaryinterconnected entities. This sense ofinterconnectedness visually echoes with thediscourse held in both Nairobian institutions: by“connecting with the international circuit” or“disseminating emerging international practices”,they claim membership to a globallyencompassingcommunity.

Atthispoint,mapscanserveasatooltoconfrontthediscoursewiththeeffectivemobilityfacilitatedinthoseplaces.

MeasuringEncounters

A way to go beyond the discourses of theseinstitutions is to look at the geographicalinformation directly contained in their activityreports.TheGoethe‐Institut’s eventprogram listsfeatured artists and their national identity(understood as a sense of belonging rather thancitizenship). Similarly, the yearly reports thatKuonaTrustsubmitstotheirfundersdisplaystheidentityoftheartistinvitedtotheirworkshop.Aswewill see lateron, this typeof information thatassociates individuals with one single identitydrastically simplifies migratory trajectories.However, it is interesting to note the identity isassignedbytheinstitutionitself.Inaway,throughthis truncated information, we can assume theinstitutionssellouttheirownspatialscheme(SeeFig.2).

TheGerman cultural center arrived inNairobi in1963, the year Kenya gained independence. As acultural center, it was initially focused onpromoting the German language and acontemporaryimageofGermany.Inrecentyears,the institute has strived to do more than thisfounding mission. According to JohannessHossfeld, thedirectorof the institute since2007,“there has been a globalization in the art sceneand in the intellectual scene and nobody wouldthink about projects in terms of strict bilateralrelation.”11 Due to its very central location indowntownNairobi andalsoon theaccountofanimportant budget increase in 2008, the Goethe‐InstituthasbecomeamajoractorofartinNairobi.The map covers the activity since this date. InHossfeld’s discourse, the international dimensionof the center’s activity is paramount: “We try tobringthelocalartistsupwiththeinternationalartscene.Wework exclusively with artists who areconnected or connectable with the internationalartcircuit.”12

Lookingatthenational identityofthe268artistswhophysically travelled to the institutebetween

11InterviewwithJohannesHossfeld,directoroftheGoethe‐InstitutinNairobi,October2011,inhisoffice.12Ibid.



2009 and 2013, we can see the contours of theinternational network they promote are moreconfinedthanwhattheofficialdiscoursesuggests.Indeed,while the activity of the German culturalcenter in Nairobi is international for over 40percent of the artists showcased, theymassivelyoriginatefromEurope.IfwecombinetheinfluxofGerman, Austrian and Polish artists (dark bluearrow), with whom Germany has diplomaticpartnershipprograms, andKenyanartistshostedin the center, bilateral exchange still representsalmost 80percentof the activity.13 In that sense,spatial measurements clearly show the Goethe‐Institutisstillaforeignculturalcenter.Withinthe20percentremaining,roughlyhalfcomefromtherest of Europe (pale blue arrows). Those aremainly countries that do not own a nationalcultural center in Nairobi such as Spain orSweden, or those that don’t have good enoughinfrastructure like Italy that has an office‐likevenue rather than a multidisciplinary galleryspace like the Goethe‐Institut. The second halforiginates from other African countries (orangearrows). Those are most notably Sub‐Saharanmetropolitan areas like Lagos, Luanda orJohannesburg, cities that also happen to hostmajorGoetheinstitutes.

The map shows very weak involvement of theinstitutewithneighboringcountries(redarrows).Thistendstoshowthattheinstitute isnotactingas a regional center that polarizes activity butrather like a node that facilitates circulationwithin a broader network. Other most notableabsenteesaretheAsianandbothNorthandSouthAmerican continents (beige arrows). Pan‐Africanactivity put aside, only a couple of eventswouldqualify as South‐South mobility. This restrictedgeographical focus can be explained by the“AktionAfrika”policy framework initiatedby thefederal foreign minister that fosters the“development of pan‐Africanprojects that aimatan artistic reflection of the current political,economicandsocialproblemsonthecontinent”.14

13Themusicalprojecttitled“BLNRB‐NRBLN”(2010‐2011)wasarchetypalofthisbilaterallogic:bringingBerlintoNairobiandviceversa.14Goethe‐Institutpresskit(2008),2.

Theinfluxorabsenceofartiststhereforereflectsaspecific geopolitical agenda rather than anencompassing wave of artistic international‐‐ization. Although it calls for further analysis ofthe events and institutional architecture, themapping of such an art center’s activity helps toframe an underlying spatial agenda: the Goethe‐Institut in Nairobi is a place where the GermanculturalnetworkcanappearastheorchestratorofthedialoguebetweenEuropeandAfrica(SeeFig.3).

Kuona Trust offers an interesting point ofcomparison with the network provided by theGoethe‐Institut. Now located in a leafy Nairobiansuburb,theKuonaTrustisanartcenterthathostsartists’ studios, organizes workshops andexhibitions forvisualarts.The trustwas initiatedin 1995 by Rob Burnet, a British culturalentrepreneur who was then an employee in acommercial art gallery in Nairobi. According tohim, “in the early 1990’s the only spaces easilyaccessible to artists were the galleries, whoseunavoidable commercial imperatives discouragedartists from interacting together and inevitablydrove the work towards a style appealing to thetourists.”15 This observation brought him to planthereorientationof the localartmarket. In1995,BurnettravelledbacktoEnglandandfoundbothahorizon and a roadmap to serve his project. Theart exhibition Africa’95, organized in London,marked an important rise in interest of thewesternartworldforperipheries.16KuonaTrustistypical of the organizations that positionedthemselves upstream to tap into the creativityincreasingly put forward in big art eventsorganized in Europe.17 Burnet also met withRobertLoder,anobleEnglishbusinessmanandartcollector who was one of the organizers ofAfrica’95.Loderisalsooneoftheinitiatorsoftheinternational network of artists called TriangleNetworkthattheNairobianartcenter isaffiliatedwith. It aims to generate “peer‐to‐peer learning,professional development for artists and the

15RobBurnet,Kuonaat17(2012),38.16MichèleCoquet,"Africa95àLondres,“Journaldesafricanistes66(1996):315‐317.‘17Interestingly,‘kuona’istheKiswahiliwordfor‘tosee.’



dissemination of emerging international artpractices.”18 Combining development goals in aninternational scope, KuonaTrust hasmanaged toattract donor money from organizations such asthe Ford Foundation (USA) and Hivos(Netherlands) and it exclusively lives off theirfunding.

The map based on Kuona Trust’s yearly reportsshows that the funding countries (dark bluearrows) are again decisive contributors to theactivity of the center. Nevertheless, compared tothe Goethe‐Institut, the visual art center hasdeveloped quite a different international pattern.Firstly, in accordance with its founding objectiveto identify localcreativity, thespace isa lotmoreopen to regional interactions (red and orangearrows): Ugandan, Sudanese or Tanzanian artistsare the main international influx and over 75percent of the artists hosted are African. Beyondthis African horizon, the network has establishedmore substantial connections with both SouthAmerica and Asia that are almost completelyabsentintheGermanculturalcenter.RobertLoderclaims thenetwork is notdriven fromabove anddeveloped organically.19 Since the Kuona Trustorganizes artist‐led workshops that fosterexchangebetweenartists,languagecouldpartiallyexplain thepattern.However,acloser lookat thecountries represented suggests the networkfollows a specific geopolitical logic that is moreconfined than what a strictly linguistic criterionwouldproduce.ThenetworkinwhichtheTriangleNetworkwants to disseminate ideas and nurturetalentseemsinsidiouslylinkedwithcountriesthatwere at one time part of the British Empire ormembers of the Commonwealth of Nations:Nigeria, Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan or Australia.Further interpretation of these maps wouldrequire historical and anthropologicalperspectives that fall out of the scope of thisarticle. Nevertheless, we can say the map ofNairobi’s attractiveness is once again defined by

18Descriptionfoundon:www.trianglenetwork.org.ThenameTriangleoriginatesintheconnectionbetweenthethreefoundingcountries:USA,EnglandandCanada.19RobertLoderandAnthonyCaro,“Networked:DialogueandExchangeintheGlobalArtEcology,”London,November26‐27,2011.

anexteriornetworkratherthanbythecity’sinnerdynamics.

The encounters organized by both theseinstitutionsareselectiveinthesensethattheyaredefined by particular networks and spatialpriorities. What these maps illustrate is thedifferent reach– intendedornot–of institutionswithin Nairobi. But beyond their descriptivequality, the visualmeaning of thesemaps is a lotmore ambivalent than the proportionate circlesused for showing centrality (as in Veschambre’smaps). Indeed, the arrows directed towardsNairobi don’t automatically suggest a simplerelation of domination of the center over itsperiphery. Instead, they indicate that throughthese institutions, Nairobi belongs to differentnetworksinwhichdissymmetricalrelationscanbeexperienced. Part of the ambiguity of thisway ofrepresenting circulations is in the focus oninstitutionsratherthanindividuals.Manyreasonscan justify having an art project in Nairobi.Furthermore, in an artist’s career, having anexhibition in Nairobi can be very different inimportance and meaning: it could just be afortuitous tourist destination or part of a moredefined spatial strategy. That is why I will nowconfront the information provided by eventprograms and yearly reports with sourcesemanatingfromindividualactors.

MeasuringFootprints

Artist’s curriculum vitae are another source thatgeneratesuseful geographical information for theunderstanding of art mobility in Nairobi.20Generallyproducedbytheartiststhemselves,theyprovidealistoftheevents,datesandvenuesthatcounted in their careers. Cartograms can be anefficient way to spatially transcribe thisbiographical information (birth, studies andcareer). Instead of representing the Euclideandistanceseparatingexhibitions,theideaistoalter

20TheuseofCVsforKenyanartistsisarelativelynewphenomenonthatshouldbelinkedwiththeindividualizationofartistsandtheadventofmodernistconceptionsoforiginalityandunicityinthe1960’s.Foranarthistoricalperspectiveonthis,see:SydneyKasfir,L’artcontemporainafricain(Thames&Hudson,1999),129.



the size of every area of accomplishmentdependingon the relativeplace itoccupies in theartist’scareer:themoreexhibitions,workshopsorresidencies in a given area, the bigger it willappear. This technique aims to represent artist’sspatial footprint: where do artists from NairobiaccomplishthemselvesandwhatisthesituationofNairobi within these artists’ careers? As withinstitutionaldiscourses,cartographycanbeatoolforpondering labels suchas “international artist”or “jet artist”21 in the light of effectivemobility. Iwill now confront the footprints of three artistsconsideredasinternationalwhohavemadepartoftheircareerinNairobianinstitutions.

Figure4

AtoMalinda’sartisticfootprint.Source:AtoMalinda,ContactZonesNrb,Vol.4,(ModerneKunstNürnberg,2012),124‐125.Researchandmapping:OlivierMarcel,2013.

AtoMalinda is an artistwhohasan internationalaura in the Nairobian contemporary art scene.Born in Kenya in 1981, she grew up in theNetherlandsandstudiedarthistory in theUnitedStatesbeforereturningtoherhometownin2004.The process of repatriation of artists andintellectuals is characteristic of the periodfollowingthedepartureoftheauthoritarianleader

21RaymondeMoulin,L’artiste,l’institutionetlemarché(Paris:Flammarion,1997),355.

DanielarapMoiin2003.22Malinda’sreturnwasadifficult but very conscious move. In her ownwords: “Coming back to Kenya was also veryisolating […]. It has taken me years to find thisspace to be who I am, because who I am is alsopartlywho Iwas in the US.”23While the culturaland artistic environment contrasts sharply withherpreviousexperiences, the ideaofreturningtothe roots is a founding experience that serves asmaterial of her performances.24 According toHossfeld, the Goethe‐Institut’s director, she is“someonewhobasicallysocializedintheWestandnow tries to recover her African identity.”25 Thecartogramcoversherartisticpractice since livinginNairobi.BorrowingapunmadebyPaulGilroy,wecansayitmakesvisibletheexternal“routes”ofherquestfor“roots.”26

Malinda’s trajectory clearly embraces this dualdiasporic identity, shared between Europe andAfrica.Nairobihas,ofcourse,becomeimportantinher practice since it is the place she lives in: sherentedastudioatKuonaTrust,organizedmultipleexhibitions at the Goethe‐Institut and performedin the city’s streets.27 Meanwhile, the illustrationshows her career ismostly played outside of theKenyan scene,mostnotably ina seriesofAfricanmetropolises: Nairobi, but also Cairo, Dakar,Douala, Luanda or Harare. This metropolitannetwork constitutes an area of accomplishmentthat rivalswith her European exhibitions both innumber and prestige. Indeed, many of thoseexhibitionswereconvenedby influential curatorssuchasSimonNjami(curatorofAfricaRemixandthe Rencontres Africaines de la Photographie) orChristine Eyene (curator at the Dakar and Baselbiennales):anartisticintelligentsiathatsurpassesnationalscenestofocusonabroader“Afropolitan”experience. Interestingly, Njami andMalindametduring a project initiated inNairobi. InMalinda’s

22Forinstance,itisatthesametimethatthefamedwriterandintellectualNgugiwaThiong’oreturnedfromexile.23AtoMalinda,ContactZonesNrb,Vol.4,(ModerneKunstNürnberg,2012),15. 24Forinstance,herperformancetitled“LookingatArt;LookingatAfrica;LookingatArt”(Goethe‐Institut,2009)canbereadasanallegorictakeoncirculatorymigrationsandidentity.25InterviewwithJohannesHossfeld,ibid.26PaulGilroy,TheBlackAtlantic:ModernityandDoubleConsciousness(Cambridge:HarvardUniversityPress,1993).27Forinstance,herperformance“IsFreeDumb”(2010)wasinteractingwiththeKenyaNationalArchives.



career, Nairobi could be the enabling node thatgivesheraccesstothiscommunity.

BeyondAfrica, hermobility is largely oriented tohigh profile institutions in European culturalcapitalssuchasLondonorBerlin.Surprisingly,shehasnot returned to theUSAdespitehavingspentsome time in Austin for her studies. We canhypothesizethisisduetothestrongerpresenceofEuropean cultural cooperation in Nairobi thatprovidesmoreopportunities.Onthecontrary,herresidency in the Caribbean – an opportunity shegrabbedthroughaDutchinstitutionduringoneofhertravels–showsMalindaisanactorofherownmobility, capable of weaving a spatial footprintthatiscoherentwithherpractice.Despitebeinganisolated destination in her actual footprint, thisresidencywasanimportantmoveinherdiscourseandgivesdepthtothepostcolonialcommentaryofherwork.Thisquestionsthemethodologyusedtoproduce these cartograms: solo and catalogueparametersonlygivecareeroriented informationon the hierarchy of events that doesn’t alwaysmatchtheartist’sperceivedexperience.

Figure5

SamHopkins’artisticfootprint.Source:SamHopkins,ContactZonesNrb,Vol.2,(ModerneKunstNürnberg,2012),124‐125.Researchandmapping:OlivierMarcel,2013.

SamHopkinsisanothermultimediaartistwhohasheavily relied on both Kuona Trust and Goethe‐

Institut for his projects and is also a challenge toany national categorization. Born in Italy of anEnglish father and a Ukrainian mother, raised inKenya,hestudiedartinGermany,socialsculptureinEngland andphilosophyandhistory in Cuba.28Hisattitudetowardshisspatial trajectorysharplycontrasts with Malinda’s. Being white andpracticing in a postcolonial city, he is quick todismisshisownitineraryanddeniesitsrelevancytoexplainartworksthatheconceivesforemostas“contextual:” “I think it is absurd to validatesomeone’s artistic work because of where theycome from. It is somehow tautological.”29Nevertheless,hisspatialmotivationsbecomequiteclearwhentalkingabouthiswork.Forinstance,inthe course of a discussion on one of hiscollaborations with the Nairobian art collectiveMaasaiMbili,Hopkinsconfesseshewasimpressedbythe“advancedconceptualapproachtomemory”he discovered during his studies at the BauhausUniversity and explained hewanted to “take thislegacy of German commemorative practices andwork it with Kenyan artists.”30 This perspectivecan explain why the Goethe‐Institute, whosedirector was also trained as an art historian inGermany, is such a welcoming anchor for hispractice.

Hisartisticfootprintisofparticularinterestwhencompared to that of Malinda since they havefrequented the same Nairobian institutions withalmost opposite spatial logics. A remarkablefeatureistheabsenceofanyinteractionswiththerest of Africa. His practice and audience arecontainedbytheKenyancapitalcityandahostofcultural and artistic institutions in Germany andBritain. In Nairobi, he is genuinely “intrigued bythe premise” and most of his projects arecollaborations with local artistic communities,striving to build meaning from the context. ButHopkinsmakes clear hewants hiswork to “existbeyond thecontext.”31The illustrationshows this

28IntheyearlyreportsofKuonaTrust,heisalternativelyreferredtoasBritishorKenyan.29SamHopkins,ContactZonesNrb,Vol.2,(ModerneKunstNürnberg,2012),10‐12.30InterviewwithSamHopkins,October2011,Nairobi.Hopkinswastalkingaboutthecollaborativeprojecttitled“ConversationsinSilence”(2011)facilitatedbytheGoethe‐InstitutinconjunctionwiththeBauhausUniversityofWeimar.31SamHopkins,ContactZonesNrb.



isactuallythecase:thethemesheworkson–suchasmemory,popularcultureorpublicspace–makeeasy connections between urban Africa andEuropean academic and artistic environments.ThisexplainswhycitiessuchasOxford,Weimarormore recently Bayreuth are importantdestinations. Without searching to validate ordiscard his work, the footprint sheds light on acirculatory pattern of mobility. We see an artistwhose career has beenmostly defined in Europeand who has invested in Nairobi as a creativeperiphery,using the richmaterialprovidedby itssocialandpoliticalcontexttoreworkartisticideasand processes while still relying on westernculturalinstitutions.

Figure6

IngridMwangi’sartisticfootprint.Source:Artist’swebsite(http://www.ingridmwangi.de).Researchandmapping:OlivierMarcel,2013.

Ingrid Mwangi, associated with her Germancounterpart Robert Hutter, is more establishedthan the twoprevious artists and is a recognizedname in the contemporary art market. She toodefinesherselfasa“hyphenatedperson.”32BorninNairobi in1975ofaKenyanfatherandaGermanmother,shemigratedtoGermanyattheageof15and studied art at the University of Saarbrücken,whereshestilllivesandworks.WhileherCVruns

32ErinSchwartz,“IngridMwangi,enactingthebodyasstage,”Acrawsaejounal6/1(2010).

back to 1998, the illustration is limited to theperiod between 2007 and 2011 for comparisonpurposes.Wecanseehowbroadher footprint is,roving in four continents almost every year.However,mapping her career information showsthe unequal distribution of her accomplishments.For this highly transnational artist, Europe andUSApolarizesmostofheractivity.Lookingcloselyatthecountriesinwhichshehastoured,likeSpainor USA, we see the diverse range of culturalinstitutions she interacted with (history centers,artgalleriesandmuseums).Thisintegrationintheartistic scenes she visits is probably a keydifference with the mobility of artists living inNairobi who are usually depending on a fundingorganization that limits the journey in time andscope.WithIngridMwangi,wehaveanexampleofan artist of the Kenyan diaspora who grewindependently of the Nairobian art scene and isnowrecognizedincentralwesternartinstitutions.

The illustration shows yet another pattern inwhich Nairobi can be included. Mwangi, whosework tackles the collision of different worlds,relies on a broad African identity emancipatedfromnationalreferences.Forinstance,inthetitlesof her group exhibitions, we see a recurringAfrican horizon: “An African ContemporaryJourney,” “AfricanDigitalArt,” “ImaginingAfrica,”“the African Body,” or “African Art and theDiaspora”.In2007,shewasattheVenicebiennalein Sindika Dokolo’s “African pavilion.”33 Mwangimakesregularvisits tohighprofilecontemporaryart events in African metropolises, matchingMalinda’s African experience. Nevertheless, whiletheseeventscanbeprestigious,theyappeartobemarginalinheroverallfootprint.Interestingly,shehasn’t established any interactions with otherperipheralregionssuchasSouthAmericaorIndia.It isunclearwhether thisunbalancewasachoicetoemphasizeherAfricanidentityortheproductofinstitutionalnetworks that aremorepreoccupiedby linking periphery and center than linkingperipheriestogether.Inanycase,Nairobiappears

33“AfricanPavilion”–52ndVeniceBiennaleInternationalContemporaryArtExhibition,Artiglieriedell’Arsenale,10thJune–21stNovember2007.Inthepressrelease,IngridMwangirepresentsKenya.



hereasananchorratherthanahub,aplacewherethe artist can find a community and aninstitutional network that is receptive to herpractice.

These cartograms, put side to side, demonstratehowNairobicanoccupyverydifferentpositionsinartist’s careers. However, while the differentpatternsshedlightonunevenspatialexperiences,their interpretation remainsproblematic.What isthelevelofagencyoftheseartistsinthemakingoftheirfootprint:howmuchisstrategicallyintendedand how much is contingent on economicopportunismoronthenetworks that reached forthem?Furthermore,towhatextentisittheartist’sown footprint: do the artists leave a tracewheretheytravelordotheplacestheyfrequentinfluencetheir practice? These maps are clues to furtherinvestigationofthegeographyofart.

Conclusion: Rendering theUnequal Shapes and Scales ofInternationalArtMobility

Itisnowwidelyrecognizedthatmajorexhibitionsand biennales organized since the 1990’s havebeen trailblazers for non‐western art.34 Thesubsequent worlding of art from the South hasbroughtsometoclaimthe“collapseofdistance.”35Such statements are serious challenges for thesocial study of art and invite us to rethink ourconception of art space. Indeed, the distancebetween places and actors should not be onlyconsideredascontinuoustopographicalspacebutalso as reticular territories that are unequal inshape and scale. In this paper, I have strived toshow how cartography can be used as a tool toreassert thediscontinuitiesandhierarchiesof thespace of art and ultimately uncover the ideologycontained in the spatial claims and classificationsthat proliferate in contemporary art discourses.

34JoëlleBusca,L'artcontemporainafricain:ducolonialismeaupostcolonialisme(Paris:L’Harmattan,2000).35OkwuiEnwezor,IntenseProximity,Artasnetwork(Paris:LaTriennale,2012).

The maps based on the international traffic indifferent Nairobian institutions show howglobalizationisexperienceddifferentlydependingon the networks that reach the city. ThecartogramsbasedonartistsCVsshowthereisnotone single international circuit. Instead, artistsappeartointegratespacetomultiplestrategiesofmobility. Using a comparative approach betweeninstitutions and artists acting in the same cityallows us to distinguish recurring patterns andmeasure nuances in particular trajectories.Through these representations, Nairobi appearscrossed by an array of different spatialinteractionsthatcontesttheUniversalistvisionofanencompassingglobalizationandcomplexifytheideaofperiphery.



Figure2ArtistswhophysicallytravelledtotheGoethe‐InstituteofNairobibetween2009and2013.Source:eventprogramsoftheGoethe‐InstituteofNairobibetweenJanuary2009andMay2013.Basemap:AtelierdecartographiedeSciencesPo,2011(http://cartographie.sciences‐po.fr).

Researchandmapping:OlivierMarcel,2013.

Figure3ArtistswhophysicallytravelledtoKuonaTrustbetween2001and2012.Source:KuonaTrustyearlyreports2001‐02,2002‐03,2003‐04,

2004‐05,2005‐06,2006‐07,2007‐08,2010‐01,2011‐12.Basemap:AtelierdecartographiedeSciencesPo,2011(http://cartographie.sciences‐po.fr).Researchandmapping:OlivierMarcel,2013.

filling the blank space of global art peripheries - purdue e-pubs

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