Nnenna Onuoha is a Ghanaian-Nigerian researcher, filmmaker and artist based in Berlin, Germany. Her films and videos centre Afrodiasporic voices to explore monumental silences surrounding the histories and afterlives of colonialism across West Africa, Europe and the US, asking: how do we remember, which pasts do we choose to perform and why? A second strand of her work focuses on archiving Black experience in the present to chronicle how, amidst all this, we practice care and repair for ourselves and each other. Her work has shown at the Galerie im Turm, the Kunsverein Hamburg, the Brückemuseum, the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, the Galerie im Körnerpark, the Museum of Modern Art Shanghai, and alpha nova and galerie futura. Nnenna is currently a 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.
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. 2023-4
- 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)
