THE HISTORICAL RECORD

The living archive.

Art leaves a record. Return to the exhibitions, artists and ideas that continue to shape the conversation.

A GROWING COLLECTION

Browse by the original source publication date. Historical selections are reviewed and added over time; coverage is not exhaustive.

Browse daily editions

28 reviewed stories · 2024Clear filters ×

Institutional AnnouncementSouthern Africa

Zeitz MOCAA named Otobong Nkanga for its 2025 artistic-excellence award

In its December 2024 announcement, Zeitz MOCAA named Otobong Nkanga as the recipient of its 2025 Honorary Award for Artistic Excellence. The museum highlighted her research-led work across textiles, sculpture, performance and other media, connecting bodies, land and resources. The announcement situates that recognition within the institution’s support for contemporary African and diasporic art; its gala fundraising invitations are now historical.

Zeitz MOCAA12 Dec 2024

InterviewDiaspora

Alexis Peskine explores identity and healing through nail portraits

Alexis Peskine builds portraits from nails and gold leaf, drawing on Afro-Brazilian heritage, family craftsmanship and African spiritual references. Speaking to Global Voices, the Paris-born artist explains how a technique developed during his studies became a way to explore the African diaspora. The interview also follows his shift towards healing and nature in Forest Figures, the body of work shown at London’s October Gallery in 2024.

Original article by Omid MemarianGlobal Voices

OPENING THE JOURNAL

The living archive.

Zeitz MOCAA named Otobong Nkanga for its 2025 artistic-excellence award

Alexis Peskine explores identity and healing through nail portraits

The living archive.

Zeitz MOCAA named Otobong Nkanga for its 2025 artistic-excellence award

Alexis Peskine explores identity and healing through nail portraits

Zeitz MOCAA announced four additions to its Global Council in 2024

Elizabeth Catlett retrospective joined artistic and political histories

Nordic Utopia explored Black artists’ lives beyond Paris

What Happens When Looted Artefacts Return Home?

Rita Mawuena Benissan reimagined Asante symbols in One Must Be Seated

Zeitz MOCAA traced the grain silo’s transformation into a museum

Nolan Oswald Dennis questioned systems of knowledge in UNDERSTUDIES

MADEYOULOOK brought land, sound and Indigenous knowledge to Venice

Kelli Morgan founded an archive for Detroit’s Black art histories

Points of Resonance connected African photographic practices in New York

MOCAD reconsidered Gallery 7’s legacy of Black abstraction

Tuan Andrew Nguyen connected Vietnamese, Senegalese and Moroccan histories

Esther Mahlangu’s retrospective placed community beside individual achievement

Georgina Maxim’s stitched works made repair deliberately provisional

Berni Searle’s On Site opened her artistic process to museum visitors

Lady Skollie’s GROOT GAT rebuilt stories around historical absence