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1-54 FORUM – Curated by RAW Material Company

DatesFri 17 Oct 2025
Times11am–7pm
SpaceScreening Room
PriceFree with purchase of a Fair ticket

11am — Opening Remarks | On Institution building as a curatorial practice

  • Marie Hélène Pereira for RAW Material Company


11.30am — Performative Gesture | On Radical Love

  • Maria Magdalena Campos Pons & Kamaal Mala


12pm—Talk | On Institution Building as a Curatorial Practice

How can building an institution be understood as a curatorial act in itself? Inspired by Koyo Kouoh’s vision of “institution building as creative practice,” this conversation brings together practitioners who have each reimagined what cultural infrastructures can be. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung (SAVVY Contemporary, Haus der Kulturen der Welt), Ibrahim Mahama (SCCA Tamale), and Maria Magdalena Campos Pons (Rios Intermittentes) will reflect on the challenges and possibilities of shaping institutions that are at once locally grounded and globally connected. Moderated by Marie Hélène Pereira (RAW Material Company, Haus der Kulturen der Welt), the discussion explores how institutional practice can serve as a site of creativity, solidarity, and resistance.


3pm — Talk | On Possible Futures and the question of Sustainability

Sustaining art and institutions requires both vision and resources. This conversation brings together practitioners exploring how funding, support structures, and collective strategies shape the possibilities for artistic and institutional futures.Teesa Bahana (32° East), Sepake Angiama (Iniva) and Yto Barrada (Cinémathèque de Tanger) will share insights from their experiences in creating, sustaining, and expanding platforms for contemporary art across Africa and beyond. Moderated by Haja Fanta (RAW Material Company), the discussion will reflect on how institutions can nurture experimentation, resilience, and collaboration while imagining futures that are both realistic and equitable.


4pm — Closing remarks

  • Simon Njami


5pm — Poetic Gesture

  • Gabe Feijoo
  • Film screening by Eric Baudelaire


6pm — Sonic Gesture

  • DJ Rokia Bamba


7pm — END

You must purchase a Fair ticket for the same day as the talks you are attending. This Forum takes place in The Screening Room, events will commence promptly at the scheduled time, so please arrive five minutes before the start to avoid disappointment.

Book Fair tickets

Hesder image: Lakwena Maciver, Cover me, 2025, Casein paint, found cardboard, plastic beads, fishing wire, 72 x 51 x 1 cm. Courtesy of the Artist and Vigo Gallery.