A dialogue between Toyin Ojih Odutola, Barnard’s Lida A. Orzeck ’68 Artist-in-Residence, and Mary Sibande, Johannesburg and Venice Biennale artist, moderated by Kellie Jones, Columbia Professor of Art History and MacArthur Fellow. As one of the inaugural events of the Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity (AFRE), two powerful contemporary artists discuss issues of esthetics, gender, race, and justice.  What political role can artists play today?

Both Ojih Odutola and Sibande have created beautiful and original images of the human body.  By defying stereotypes, their work opens new visions of who we are and could be.  Toyin Ojih Odutola (Ife, Nigeria 1985-) was raised in California and Alabama, earned her MFA from California College of the Arts in San Francisco and now works in New York City.  She currently has a show at the Whitney Museum of American Art, To Wander Determined. Mary Sibande (South Africa 1982-) lives and works in Johannesburg. She obtained her Diploma in Fine Arts at the Witwatersrand Technikon (2004) and a B-Tech degree from the University of Johannesburg (2007). Her works have been shown in South Africa, New York, and London.

This event is jointly sponsored by the Orzeck Artist in Residency, the Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity (AFRE), the Columbia Institute for Research in African American Studies (IRAAS) and the Barnard Art History department.

Information: arthistory@barnard.edu