‘I’m increasingly interested in those possibilities outside and beyond the solely human.’ – John Akomfrah
In the October issue of frieze, the ground-breaking UK filmmaker John Akomfrah is in conversation with The Otolith Group’s Kodwo Eshun and Anjalika Sagar; Akinbode Akinbiyi, Natasha A. Kelly, Mahret Ifeoma Kupka and Susan Neiman draw attention to the history of Afro-Germany; and Willem de Rooij answers our questionnaire.
The cover artwork, Our Skin Is A Monument (2020), was specially designed by John Akomfrah for the issue. It is available to buy as an exclusive limited edition, with 60% of sales proceeds benefiting the Frieze x Deutsche Bank Emerging Curators Fellowship, which supports UK-based Black and POC curators.
Also featuring: A thematic essay by Stephen Squibb on the aesthetics of disinformation. A profile by Muna Mire of the filmmaker Tourmaline. 1,500 words by Elvia Wilk on how Nancy Baker Cahill’s augmented-reality works are freeing public monuments from the ideology of control. Maika Pollack responds to Thao Nguyen Phan’s Perpetual Brightness (2019).
Kyle Chayka on Patreon’s new model of art patronage; Liv Fontaine offers ten tips on how to be a performance artist; Evan Moffitt interviews Stefan Benchoam and Jessica Kairé, the co-founders of Guatemala City’s NuMu; Jessica Loudis on the new magazines giving speed to cultural revolution; and Ana Tuazon on the emerging alternative spaces, led by artists of colour, that are leaving a stagnant art world behind.
Plus, a special supplement with selected texts from Frieze Masters: contributing editor Jonathan Griffin on how Gianfranco Gorgoni’s photographs documented the Land Art movement and Charles Saumarez Smith on the changing fashions in exhibition design. Also, 28 reviews from around the world and online, including exhibitions by James Benning, Sonia Boyce, Marlene Dumas, Toyin Ojih Odutola and Tai Shani.
Our Skin Is a Monument I (2020), the artwork which is the cover for this issue, is also available to purchase as an exclusive limited edition.