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Nnenna Onuoha is a Ghanaian-Nigerian researcher, filmmaker and visual artist based in Berlin, Germany.  Her research explores monumental silences surrounding the histories and afterlives of colonialism across West Africa, Europe and the United States, asking How do we remember, which pasts do we choose to perform, and why? Her work has shown at the Galerie im Turm, ACUD Galerie, the Zitadelle Spandau Museum, the Museum of Modern Art Shanghai, and the Johannesburg Art Gallery among others. And she has published chapters in: “Doing Diversity in Museums and Heritage: A Berlin Ethnography,” “Censored? Conflicting Concepts of Cultural Heritage,”and “Owned by Others: A Map to Possession Island.” She is recipient of a 2023-4 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship, a 2023 Flaherty Film Seminar Fellowship, and the 2023 Amadeu Antonio Foundation Prize. Nnenna is currently a binational doctoral researcher in Media Anthropology at Harvard University and Global History at the University of Potsdam, and a 2024-5 Krupp Foundation Dissertation Fellow.

EDUCATION     

  • PhD, Media Anthropology with Critical Media Practice (Secondary Field). Harvard University, USA. 2020 to date.
  • (cotutelle) DPhil. Global History. Universität Potsdam. DE. 2022 to date. 
  • MA. Social Anthropology. Harvard University. 2024.
  • MA, Documentary Filmmaking. DocNomads Consortium: Universidade Lusófona, Portugal; Színház-és Filmművészeti Egyetem, Hungary; and LUCA School of Arts, Belgium. 2016-2018.
  • MPhil, World History. Trinity College, University of Cambridge, UK. 2015-2016.
  • BA, History, Literature and Anthropology with Film (Secondary Field) Harvard College, USA. 2011-2015.

RESEARCH/TEACHING

  • Film Tutor. Catalyst Institute for Creative Arts and Technology. 2022-3,
  • Research Fellow. Center for Anthropological Research on Museums and Heritage. Humboldt Universität. 2018-2020.
  • Guest Scientist. Animals as Objects, Humanities of Nature Department. Naturkundemuseum. Berlin, DE. 2019-2020.
  • Lecturer. Institute for European Ethnology. Humboldt Universität. Wintersemester 2019.

HONOURS, AWARDS, GRANTS

  • Harvard Center for European Studies Krupps Dissertation Foundation. 2024-5.
  • Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellowship. 2023-4.
  • ARS/Electronica Founding Lab Studentship. 2023-4. (declined)
  • Harvard Film Study Center–Flaherty Film Seminar Fellowship. 2023.
  • Building a Diverse and Inclusive Culture of Remembrance (DAICOR). 2023.
  • Archivo Lab – The Indigenous Gaze. 2023.
  • Art and Stories Residency. Embassy of Foreign Artists. 2022.
  • Harvard Film Study Center Fellowship. 2022-3.
  • Dekoloniale Berlin Residency. 2021.
  • Goldrausch Künstlerinnen Projekt. 2021.
  • Berlin Project for Artists. 2021.
  • Berlin Senate Grant for Women in Film and Video. 2020.

EXHIBITIONS/SCREENINGS

solo/duo

  • The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for Mabel Dove. ACUD Galerie. Berlin, 2024.
  • The Memory Guardians. Schaudepot –  Zitadelle Spandau Museum. Berlin, 2024.
  • As Above, So Below – Three Films on Ritual. Kunstverein Langenhagen. 2024
  • A F T E R L I V E S. Galerie im Turm. Berlin, DE. 2022-3
  • Cartographies of Care. alpha nova & galerie futura. Berlin, DE. 2020

group

  • Soil Conversations. Johannesburg Art Gallery. SA. 2023.
  • Declaration of the Bitter Land. Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, CH. 2023.
  • Leerstelle_Zeit haben, Zeit zählen, Zeit füllen. Schwulesmuseum Berlin, DE. 2023.
  • Vol. 7 – Movimento/Movement. Wimblu Magazine. CR. 2023.
  • Soil Conversations. Galerie im Körnerpark. Berlin, DE. 2023.
  • ArtSpring Pankow. Brotfabrik Kino. Berlin, DE. 2023.
  • Filming Ghosts, Silences and Hidden Things: Short Film Screening w/ Nnenna Onuoha. Intervierende Kunst, FU. Berlin, DE.
  • FIFEQ-MTL. International Ethnographic Film Festival of Quebec. 2023.
  • The Educational Web. Kunstverein Hamburg. 2023.
  • BPA// Exhibition 2022. KW Institute for Contemporary Art. Berlin, DE. 2022-3.
  • Through the Cracks. arebyte Gallery. London, UK. 2021.
  • Mutual Matters – Goldrausch 2021. Fahrbereitschaft, Haubrok Foundation. Berlin, DE. 2021.
  • Acting from the Middle of Somewhere. alpha nova & galerie futural. Berlin, DE. 2021.
Full CV available on request.
Nnenna Onuoha. 2021.