Artist Talk: Josèfa Ntjam

Join artist Josèfa Ntjam and ArtReview editor-at-large Oliver Basciano for a talk on the occasion of Ntjam’s exhibition swell of spæc(i)es, a collateral event of the Venice Biennale, opening at Accademia di Belle Arti on 20 April through 24 November 2024.

swell of spæc(i)es takes the form of an otherworldly environment shaped by a cyclical film, a rich soundscape, and sonic sculptures. Commissioned by LAS Art Foundation and housed in a purpose-built pavilion in the courtyard of Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, the installation unfolds a new creation myth shaped by ancient and emergent ways of conceiving the world(s). Within this imaginary, plankton is a point of convergence between the deep ocean and outer space, biological and mythical realms, possible pasts and alternative futures. Fusing Dogon cosmogony and recent western discoveries into a circular narrative, Ntjam’s work locates a poetics of alterity spanning multiple cosmo-geographies.

Venue: Palazzina Canonica CNR ISMAR, Castello 13644/A, 30122 Venezia, Italy
Date: Wednesday, 17 April
Time: 17:00–17:30 Welcome Drinks; 17:30–18:15 Josèfa Ntjam in conversation with ArtReview editor-at-large Oliver Basciano

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Free and open to all
RSVP: RSVP@las-art.foundation

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Josèfa Ntjam is an artist, performer and writer whose practice combines sculpture, photomontage, film, and sound. Collecting the raw material of her work from the internet, books on natural sciences and photographic archives, Ntjam uses assemblage — of images, words, sounds and stories — as a method to deconstruct the grand narratives underlying hegemonic discourses on origin, identity and race. Her work weaves multiple narratives drawn from investigations into historical events, scientific processes and philosophical concepts, to which she confronts references to African mythology, ancestral rituals, religious symbolism and science fiction.