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Independent Curators International supports the work of curators to help create stronger art communities through experimentation, collaboration, and international engagement.

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Curator's Perspective: Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung

Photo: Jana Edisonga/Fundação Bienal de São Paulo.

May 14, 2025
6:30–8 pm

New York, NY, USA
Martin E. Segal Theatre, CUNY Graduate Center

365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY

 

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC, SPACE IS LIMITED
RSVP REQUIRED

Photo: Jana Edisonga/Fundação Bienal de São Paulo.

In his curatorial proposal for the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung asks: How can we rethink humanity as a verb, as a living practice in a time that calls for action of many kinds? Join ICI on May 14 for a conversation with Ndikung, who is Chief Curator of the Bienal and Director and Chief Curator of Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, as part of our Curator’s Perspective series of public discussions featuring preeminent national and international curators. Ndikung will share insights into the methodologies and practices that structure the Bienal, titled Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice (opening in September 2025).

Drawing inspiration from a global array of poets and thinkers, Ndikung’s curatorial vision for Not All Travellers Walk Roads explores the potential of humanity as a methodology and practice that can address the overlapping environmental, economic, and social crises we face. In this talk, these ideas will be explored through a selection of artists and cultural practices, all of which challenge conventional narratives and invite viewers to engage with the urgency of the task at hand: reimagining how we coexist. The discussion will also touch on the global Invocations program, a series of collaborative events that took place in cities around the world between November 2024 and April 2025 to precede the Bienal and deepen our understanding of shared humanity.

Live ASL interpretation will be available at this event.

RSVP

Presenter
Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung

Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung is a curator, author and biotechnologist, currently serving as director and chief curator of Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) Berlin, Germany and chief curator of the 36th São Paulo Biennale.


Credits
The Curator’s Perspective series has been made possible, in part, by a grant from the James Howell Foundation and by generous contributions from the ICI Board of Trustees and ICI Access Fund. This program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.