Nnenna Onuoha is a Ghanaian-Nigerian researcher 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. At its core, her work asks: How do we remember, which pasts do we choose to perform, and why? Centering Afrodiasporic voices, her practice revolves around processes of collective re-membering: putting the past together limb by limb. A second strand of her work focuses on archiving Black experience in the present to understand how, amidst all of this, we practice care and repair for each other. Her work has shown at the Galerie im Turm, the Galerie im Körnerpark, the Kunstverein Hamburg, the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 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.” Nnenna is currently a binational doctoral researcher in Media Anthropology at Harvard University and Global History at the University of Potsdam. She is also a 2023-4 Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Innovation Fellow, a 2023 Flaherty Film Seminar Fellow, and winner of the 2023 Amadeu Antonio Foundation Prize.
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. expected 2023.
- 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 to date.
- 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
- 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
- Soil Conversations. Johannesburg Art Gallery. SA. 2023. (g)
- Declaration of the Bitter Land. Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, CH. 2023. (g)
- Leerstelle Gap. Schwulesmuseum Berlin, DE. 2023. (g).
- Vol. 7 – Movimento/Movement. Wimblu Magazine. CR. 2023.
- Soil Conversations. Galerie im Körnerpark. Berlin, DE. 2023. (g)
- ArtSpring Pankow. Brotfabrik Kino. Berlin, DE. 2023. (g)
- Filming Ghosts, Silences and Hidden Things: Short Film Screening w/ Nnenna Onuoha. Intervierende Kunst, FU. Berlin, DE. (s)
- FIFEQ-MTL. International Ethnographic Film Festival of Quebec. 2023.
- The Educational Web. Kunstverein Hamburg. 2023. (g)
- A F T E R L I V E S. Galerie im Turm. Berlin, DE. 2022-3 (s)
- BPA// Exhibition 2022. KW Institute for Contemporary Art. Berlin, DE. 2022-3. (g)
- Through the Cracks. arebyte Gallery. London, UK. 2021. (g)
- Mutual Matters – Goldrausch 2021. Fahrbereitschaft, Haubrok Foundation. Berlin, DE. 2021. (g)
- Acting from the Middle of Somewhere. alpha nova & galerie futural. Berlin, DE. 2021. (g)
- Cartographies of Care. alpha nova & galerie futura. Berlin, DE. 2020 (d)
