Gabi Ngcobo on Curatorial Mission, CHR, and the Berlin Biennale

Gabi Ngcobo, curator of the 10th Berlin Biennale (open through 9 September 2018), discusses her curatorial evolution in a 2013 ArtReview interview with Tom Eccles. Her practice was shaped by post-1994 South African political circumstances, leading to early projects like Masked/Unmasked (2000) with the 3rd Eye Vision collective in Durban, focusing on underrepresented black artists. After studying at Bard College, she co-founded the Center for Historical Reenactment (CHR) in Johannesburg (2010–2014) with artists Donna Kukama and Kemang Wa Lehulere, exploring how art deconstructs historical readings. CHR staged an institutional 'suicide' in December 2012 with We are absolutely ending this. Ngcobo reflects on the Johannesburg Biennale's legacy, particularly the 1997 iteration Trade Routes: History and Geography directed by Okwui Enwezor, which influences her Xenoglossia research project. She participated in the 'Incubator for a pan-African Biennale task-force', concluding that African artistic spaces were already vibrant without needing another biennale. As the first POOL curatorial fellow set up by LUMA Foundation, she curated Some a little sooner, some a little later… at LUMA/Westbau in Zurich, drawing from collections of Maja Hoffmann and Michael Ringier. Ngcobo emphasizes art's political and social force, advising South African artists to remain true to themselves amidst translation tensions.