Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi

38 | Curator of African Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, USA

Since studying sculpture under El Anatsui in his native Nigeria, Ugochukwu-Smooth Nzewi has made his name as a leading advocate of African art in the US. Formerly curator of African art at Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum of Art – where he organised ‘Inventory: New Works and Conversations around African Art’ (2016) – Nzewi was recently appointed to oversee the collection of Sub-Saharan art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Though grounded in art history, with a PhD from Emory University, Nzewi is no stranger to the contemporary art scene: he co-curated Dak’Art, the biennial of contemporary African art in 2014, and served on the curatorial team of the 11th Shanghai Biennale in 2016–17.

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