My current art project titled MUSEUM continues my exploration of the value attached to objects and the nature of collections and collecting that was begun in the projects Put Something In to Get Something Out and Offerings. The concept developed from my 2021 book chapter ‘Confronting the Museum’, in which I critically reflected on the successes and failures of my previous portable museum projects. The MUSEUM proposes a different portable museum, that further disrupts the concept of the museum through the creation of a fictional collection/ collection of fictional items, and also inviting collaboration with other artists.
My artist research informs my current written research focuses on theorising modern and contemporary African art that challenges the conventions and institutions of art in diverse ways. I concentrate on artworks made through the use of found objects, assemblage, and mixed media installations. Artworks in which found objects have been used bring the everyday into the realm of art, thereby challenging the distinctions of high art, ontologies of art, and notions of the artist’s labour. As such, I investigate the continuities and ruptures between African and Western art practices and discourses of art.
In carrying out my research I concerned with investigating the process of interpretation and ways of writing arts' histories. In particular, I question what is an appropriate way to approach interpretation and write about African art that is relevant to our current socio-political context? I explore a range of theoretical frameworks including philosophies of art, anthropology, sociology and phenomenology in trying to answer this question. My interest in how to theorise, interpret and write about African art extends to my work in the field of art education. Through developing education materials that enable particular engagements with art, I explore ways of looking at art, experiential learning, and the role of the museum in education.