The first comprehensive monograph dedicated to the filmic works of Karimah Ashadu, winner of the Silver Lion for Promising Young Artist at the 2024 Venice Biennale.
Published on the occasion of Ashadu's first institutional exhibitions in London at Camden Art Centre, and Chicago at the Renaissance Society, this detailed overview of her filmic practice features newly commissioned essays, an extended conversation with the artist and a collection of synopses documenting her video installations. It is a rich resource for readers who hope to gain an understanding of the breadth of Ashadu's work to date, which engages with contemporary manifestations of Nigerian history borne by its people and landscapes.
The publication covers more than a decade of works (2012–25), including Ashadu's newly commissioned film MUSCLE, and features contributions from the artist herself; Myriam Ben Salah, executive director and chief curator at the Renaissance Society, Chicago; Leonardo Bigazzi, curator at Fondazione In Between Art Film; Gina Buenfeld-Murley, curator at Camden Art Centre, London; Martin Clark, director of Camden Art Centre; Dr. Clive Chijioke Nwonka, associate professor of film, culture and society at University College London; Alessandro Rabottini, artistic director of Fondazione In Between Art Film; Bettina Steinbrügge, director of Mudam Luxembourg; and Arese Uwuoruya, assistant curator at Camden Art Centre.
Karimah Ashadu (born 1985 in London) is a British-born Nigerian artist and film director living and working between Hamburg and Lagos. Ashadu's practice is concerned with labour, patriarchy and notions of independence pertaining to the socio-economic and socio-cultural context of Nigeria and its diaspora.
Her work has been exhibited and screened at institutions internationally, including the 60th Venice Biennale, where she was awarded the Silver Lion for a Promising Young Participant in the International Exhibition. Her work has been shown at Camden Arts Centre, London, Canal Projects and MoMA PS1, New York, Kunsthalle Bremen, Tate Modern, London, Secession, Vienna, Kunstverein in Hamburg, South London Gallery, London, Museum of Modern Art, New York and Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève. Forthcoming solo shows include The Renaissance Society, Chicago.
Ashadu is the recipient of other awards such as the Lichtwark Förderung Prize (2025), Prize of the Böttcherstraße in Bremen (2022) and the ars viva prize (2020). Public collections include MoMA, the City of Geneva Contemporary Art Collection and the Federal Collection of Contemporary Art, Germany. Fellowships include the Abigail R. Cohen fellowship at the Columbia Institute for Ideas and Imagination, Paris. In 2020, Ashadu established her film production company Golddust by Ashadu, specialising in Artists' films on black culture and African discourses.
Edited by Bianca Stoppani, with Alessandro Rabottini and Leonardo Bigazzi.
Texts by Myriam Ben Salah, Leonardo Bigazzi, Gina Buenfeld-Murley, Martin Clark, Dr. Clive Chijioke Nwonka, Alessandro Rabottini, Bettina Steinbrügge, Arese Uwuoruya.
Visual essays by Karimah Ashadu.
