Akin Oladimeji
Performance art: contemporary practice by African and Afrodiasporic artists
PhD supervisor: Professor Tamar Garb
Working title for PhD: Performance art: contemporary practice by African and Afrodiasporic artists
My PhD explores performance art from the early two thousands till now focusing on the work of Jelili Atiku and his peers in Africa and the United States as well as Europe.
Fundamentally, this project examines ritual, politics and debates around liveness and documentation within performance art practices. There are parallels as well as points of divergence between the work of these artists that will be drawn on. Therefore, my project seeks to generate new insight into the ways these artists approach ritual and politics, specifically how they address history, memory and current events. I will also draw comparisons with canonical performance artists such as Marina Abramovic not only because Atiku cites her, but as a means of investigating key distinctions. My in-depth exploration of Atiku’s performances and the contemporary resonances of politics and spirituality in his work has the potential to facilitate new understandings of live art from a global perspective, as opposed to a Euro-American standpoint.
My PhD is fully funded by a London Arts and Humanities Partnership Open Studentship.
Publications:
- ‘Aftermath Performance: mourning in the work of Jelili Atiku’ Burlington Contemporary
- ‘Performing History: Jelili Atiku’s performances, Lubaina Himid’s and Kimathi Donkor’s Toussaint Louverture, Steve McQueen’s Carib’s Leap and Yinka Shonibare’s Mr and Mrs Andrews’ Third Text Online
- ‘Metaphysical movement: interview with Jelili Atiku’ PAJ: Performance and Art Journal
- ‘Book review: Performance, Art and Politics in the African Diaspora’ Third Text Online
Image: Obaranikosi from the series In The Red, by Jelili Atiku. Performed in Nyhavn and at Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, 2014. (Courtesy the artist; photograph Rine Rodin Flyckt).
Contact: xxxxxx.oladimeji.24@ucl.ac.uk
Qualifications
- MA History of Art, Birkbeck, University of London, 2019-2021
- MA Creative Writing, University of East Anglia, 2000-2001
Department/faculty roles: Co-editor Object 2024/2025