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1-54 Forum

1-54 Forum 2013: Chris Dercon and Koyo Kouoh. Image courtesy of 1-54 © Denzil Hugh Dean


Forums have an urgency, a permanent need to make sense of where we’re at

— John Akomfrah

From 2013 to 2017, Forum, curated by Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, Koyo Kouoh, presented films, lectures, and panel discussions featuring artists and thinkers like John Akomfrah, Chris Dercon, Dr Maria Balshaw, Olafur Eliasson, Meschac Gaba, Zina Saro-Wiwa, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Renée Mussai, and many more.

Forum, since its inception, became a space for conversations about contemporary African art and its diaspora, offering the audience what Kouoh described as “the African mindset” - a sense of cultural belonging that has more to do with Africa as an idea than a geographical location.






Memorable talks from curator Koyo Kouoh’s at the 1-54 Forum