In our Time: Azu Nwagbogu x Tino Sehgal
What is the political potential of live, embodied interactions? Celebrated artist Tino Sehgal believes they matter deeply. In our highly polarized, mediatized, and capitalized society, Sehgal has the courage to create artworks that are immaterial and leave no trace at all.
For over two decades, Sehgal’s work has disrupted the art world’s system—a system that values objects over labor and the individual over the collective. In the first episode of the art series In Our Time, curator Azu Nwagbogu and Tino Sehgal explore the art and politics of presence. What role can social interactions in public space play in a time when political leaders around the world are openly attacking museums and the art world?
During the conversation the audience can experience and might participate in the work of conceptual and performance artist Lisette Ros.
Your ticket is valid for the entire day, so you’re warmly welcome to attend other programs as well. You can check the full timetable here. Please note: visitors with a ticket for a specific program will be given priority. Once a venue reaches full capacity, we unfortunately won’t be able to admit additional visitors.
About the speakers
Tino Sehgal (London), is an artist working and living in Berlin. Originally studying political economy and dance, he crossed over to the visual arts in 2000. He achieved international renown for his groundbreaking ‘constructed situations’: live encounters between visitors and those enacting the work. He presented his work at the Venice Biennale, Documenta in Kassel, in the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Tate Modern in London and Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.
Azu Nwagbogu (Nigeria) is internationally acclaimed curator. He is the founder and director of African Artists’ Foundation, and serves as Founder and Director of LagosPhoto Festival. He is the creator of Art Base Africa, a virtual space to discover and learn about contemporary African Art. In 2024 he curated the first-ever Benin Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale, titled Everything Precious is Fragile.
Lisette Ros (1991), a Dutch conceptual and performance artist, who identifies as
queer, woman and fluid, with roots in Indonesia, explores the interplay between
society, identity, and the human experience through her work. Using her body as a medium, she challenges societal norms and exposes the consequences of socio-
cultural practices. Ros’ work has been showcased globally, including performances at prestigious events like the Venice Architecture Biennale (2016) and South By Southwest (SXSW) in Austin (2018). Ros completed a residency with Marina Abramović in 2021 and has received grants for her ongoing ‘My Self’ series researching the self and the identification process.
Who’s afraid of art? Now that tyrants are on the roll and more and more people in the West seem to be falling for the autocratic alternative, the Forum on European Culture brings together international artists, writers, and thinkers to celebrate the subversive power of art and literature.
About In Our TimeContemporary art faces significant challenges. Just as in our highly polarized and digitalized society, cultural institutions struggle to leave room for doubt, nuance and are often forced to choose a side. The praxis of decolonization within museums, while well-intended, has often fallen short of achieving change. Museums struggle to adapt to new society demands, will clinging to outdated structures.The need for open dialogue in contemporary art discourse is more pressing than ever. In Our Time, a series of talks and debates hosted at De Balie in Amsterdam, seeks to revitalize the spirit of dialectical discourse in art. Drawing inspiration from Melvyn Bragg’s BBC Radio 4 program and the logic of the Dig Where You Stand movement of the seventies, this initiative aims to create a platform for engaging open discussions on social, contemporary, political, artistic, historical, philosophical, and scientific topics. This series is hosted by curator Azu Nwagbogu and Yoeri Albrecht, director of De Balie, Amsterdam.
