Photo of 1:54 FORUM 2015 by Katrina Sorrentino.

This year's 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fairis around the corner, and we're back with exciting updates on the anticipated, 3-day affair in New York.

The 1:54 FORUM, a portion of the art fair curated by Koyo Kouoh, is a discussion series that will touch on a number of key themes, such as the African art market, curating in the digital age and contemporary forms of dissemination. For details on each forum, click here.

In another new performance art section this year, co-presented with Performa and curated by Adrienne Edwards, 1:54 PERFORMS will have artist Dave McKenzie compose a slow, text-based performance using his prototyped sneakers. Entitled, This ship would set sail, even anchored as it was (2016), the performance will be ongoing throughout the building and grounds of Pioneer Works on May 6 and 7.

In its second year in the States, 1:54 NY continues to showcase the diversity of contemporary African art and cultural production on an international stage as they feature 17 galleries from nine countries and over 60 artists from 25 countries.

See below for the full program of 1:54 FORUM, and then enter to win a pair of tickets for a day at 1:54 NY.

Friday, May 6

1:00 p.m. | Welcome and opening remarks by Koyo Kouoh

1:30 p.m. | Beyond Cultural Polarities: Africa’s Creative ‘Repats’

Panelists: Nigerian filmmaker Andrew Dosunmu, Côte d'Ivoire-based entrepreneur Nina Keita, Tanzanian journalist Elinyisia Mosha

Moderator: Founder and Editor-in-Chief of TRUE Africa, Claude Grunitzky

3:00 p.m. | Media Platforms for the Promotion of the Arts, Visual Cultures, and Social Experiences of and about Africa and the Diaspora

Panelists: Founder and Editor-in-Chief of TRUE Africa, Claude Grunitzky and Okayafrica CEO, Abiola Oke

Moderator: Curator of African Art at Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum of Art, Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi

4:30 p.m. | The Politics and Privilege of Play

Dexter Wimberly of Independent Curator in conversation with artist Ruby Onyinyechi Amanze

6:00 p.m. | Reframing Beauty

Deborah Willis, University Professor Chair, Department of Photography & Imaging, New York University—Tisch School of the Arts in conversation with artist Omar Victor

Diop

Saturday, May 7

2:00 p.m. | Emerging Social Entrepreneurs and Cultural Brokers

Panelists: Sharon Obuobi, founder of Art Accra: West African Contemporary Art Fair, Shimite Obialo, lawyer and founder of the digital platform Anoko, and Ifeanyi Awachie, curator of Africa Salon

Moderator: Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi

3:30 p.m. | Museums and Contemporary African Art

Panelists: Karen Milbourne, curator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, Kevin Dumouchelle, associate curator of Arts of Africa and the Pacific Islands at the Brooklyn Museum, and Yesomi Umolu, curator of Exhibitions at University of Chicago’s Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts

Moderator: Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi

5:00 p.m. | Materiality, Storytelling, and Grand Narratives in Contemporary African Art

Dexter Wimberly of Independent Curator in conversation with artist Billie Zangewa

6:30 p.m. | Adrienne Edwards, curator at Performa and curator-at-large at the Walker Art Center in conversation with artist Dave McKenzie

Okayafrica is giving five winners a chance to win a pair of tickets to attend one day of 1:54 NY. The invitation also grants access to the cocktail vernissage and the 1:54 after party, hosted by Red Hook Labs and Okayafrica, on Thursday, May 5. Enter below for a chance to win. Contest ends Tuesday, April 26.

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