Grace Ndiritu (Photo: David Owens) & Antawan I. Byrd (Photo: Felton Kizer)
An Evening about Afrosurrealism
Lecture, performance and late summer party
29.8 2025
Stockholm
Reach your inner heaven at the premiere of the performance meditation “The Inner Sky” by British-Kenyan (Maasai Kikuyu) artist Grace Ndiritu. Take part in a lecture with curator and art historian Antawan I. Byrd, and continue the party with DJs, poetry and other features in the museum foyer until midnight.
An Evening about Afrosurrealism
with Antawan I. Byrd, Grace Ndiritu and Third Culture Kids
Date
Friday 29 August 2025
Time
18.00–00.00
Place
In the Cinema, the Foyer, and the exhibition “The Subterranean Sky”
Language
English
Registration information
Free admission from 18.00. The programme begins at 19.00
The entire evening is free of charge. Only Grace Ndiritu’s performance requires advance registration, as places are limited
Contact: Camilla Carlberg, Moderna Museet
Afrosurrealism is a literary and artistic movement that spans the visual arts, photography, film, sound, performance, music and fashion. It draws inspiration from the broader surrealist movement that emerged in Europe after World War I, with the goal of penetrating the subconscious and challenging artistic conventions and social norms.
Afrosurrealism is focused on the present, “here and now,” and uses ideas, themes and techniques from surrealism to reflect the experiences of the African diaspora in the Western world. The movement is a tool for reformulating traditional artistic expressions in a way that places black voices in focus. It explores, among other things, the invisible world over the visible, and how both surroundings and individuals can evoke surrealist experiences.
Programme
At 18: Free admission as usual on Fridays. The entire museum is open.
At 19: Lecture “Pan-Africanism and the Uncanny Politics of Being Seen Listening” on how sound technologies mediate black political life and artistic expression in Africa and the African diaspora by Antawan I. Byrd, Ph.D., assistant professor of art history at Northwestern University in Chicago and associate curator of photography and media at the Art Institute of Chicago. In the Cinema, Floor 2. Admission free.
At 20: Premiere of “The Inner Sky”, a new performance by artist Grace Ndiritu, created for Moderna Museet. The work is a guided meditation where Grace Ndiritu leads participants on an inner journey, inspired by 1930s dream sessions and Mike Kelley’s ideas about the uncanny. Using the spiritual technique of daydreaming, the audience is invited to seek contact with their inner sky.
Bring a picture or a book that represents your favourite painting – it will be placed under your head during the meditation. You are also welcome to bring a yoga mat to lie on, or a blanket or meditation cushion.
In the exhibition ““The Subterranean Sky – Surrealism in the Moderna Museet Collection””. Free admission, but pre-registration is required.
From 21.00 until midnight in the Foyer: DJ, poetry and bar.
The programme is curated by Babak Azarmi, Third Culture Kids, and Camilla Carlberg and Hendrik Folkerts, Moderna Museet.
Grace Ndiritu
Grace Ndiritu is a British-Kenyan (Maasai Kikuyu) artist, filmmaker and writer who explores the transformation of our time. Her work has been featured in Artforum, The Guardian, TIME Magazine and BBC Radio 4 – Woman’s Hour, among others. In 2024 she was awarded the prestigious Paul Hamlyn Foundation Visual Arts Award.
Grace Ndiritu’s practice encompasses film, video, textiles, photography, performance, painting and architectural installations. Her recent solo exhibitions and projects include “Healing The Museum” at S.M.A.K. in Ghent (2023), as well as Page Not Found in The Hague (2025), Kate MacGarry in London (2023), Fotomuseum Antwerpen and Wellcome Collection in London (2023). She has also participated in several group exhibitions, including the Lyon Biennale (2024), Gropius Bau in Berlin (2022) and the British Art Show (2021–2023).
Grace Ndiritu was awarded the Jarman Award in association with Film London (2022). Her award-winning films have screened at international film festivals including the 72nd Berlinale, FID Marseille and the BFI London Film Festival. Ndiritu’s work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), LACMA (Los Angeles), Migros Museum (Zürich), the British Council and Arts Council England, among others, as well as private collections including King Muhammad VI, Morocco, and the Walther Collection, New York and Germany.
Antawan I. Byrd
Antawan I. Byrd, fil.dr, är biträdande professor i konsthistoria vid Northwestern University och biträdande intendent för fotografi och media vid Art Institute of Chicago. Där är han medcurator för ”Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Pan-Africa” (2024–2027), en översiktsutställning som kommer att turnera till Museum of Contemporary Art i Barcelona och Barbican Art Centre i London.
Antawan I. Byrd har bland annat kuraterat ”Mimi Cherono Ng’ok: Closer to the Earth, Closer to My Own Body” (2021) och varit medcurator för ”The People Shall Govern!” (2019), 2:a ”Lagos Biennial of Contemporary Art” (2019), ”Kader Attia: Reflecting Memory” (2017) samt den 10:e ”Bamako Encounters” (2015).
2017 mottog han ”Award for Curatorial Excellence” från Arts Council of the African Studies Association.
Antawan I. Byrd var Fulbright-stipendiat och curatorassistent vid Centre for Contemporary Art i Lagos 2009–2011 och sitter i dag i dess rådgivande styrelse. Han är även styrelseledamot i Graham Foundation i Chicago. För närvarande arbetar han med studien “Being Seen Listening: Art, Pan-Africanism, and the Sound Politics of the Sixties”, om ljudteknologiernas inverkan på konst och dekolonial politik i Afrika och dess diaspora.
Third Culture Kids
Third Culture Kids is a creative collective consisting of Babak Azarmi, Al-Wadood Suberu and Iskias Araya.
Third Culture Kids and Moderna Museet began their dialogue in 2022. The collaboration has, among other things, resulted in TCK Talks, a series that was a great success at Moderna Museet in the spring of 2024.
