Moderated by Brandy Pettijohn, PhD, Curator of Exhibitions, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art
Date & Time: Sunday, October 4, 2026
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Location: Freeman’s Theater, Atlanta Art Fair
African art is gaining prominence in Atlanta through the growth of institutional collections, cross-continental residencies, and the presentation of African galleries at the Art Fair. This expanding exchange creates borderless perspectives on heritage, identity, and aesthetics. In this talk, Dr Fahamu Pecou, Faron Manuel and Dr Kara Blackmore discuss their practices. They will reflect on the ecosystems they have built with African artists in the United States and across the African continent, helping to sustain connections between Africa and the diaspora. The conversation, moderated by Brandy Pettijohn, considers black ecologies. They will dive into what it means for the art world to move slowly, to build relationships and networks, and to invest in care. Together, the speakers offer a clear alternative to models that treat artworks as commodities or artists as resources. Their work provides spaces for art as a practice of continuity and renewal.
African art is gaining prominence in Atlanta through the growth of institutional collections, cross-continental residencies, and the presentation of African galleries at the Art Fair. This expanding exchange creates borderless perspectives on heritage, identity, and aesthetics. In this talk, Dr Fahamu Pecou, Faron Manuel and Dr Kara Blackmore discuss their practices. They will reflect on the ecosystems they have built with African artists in the United States and across the African continent, helping to sustain connections between Africa and the diaspora. The conversation, moderated by Brandy Pettijohn, considers black ecologies. They will dive into what it means for the art world to move slowly, to build relationships and networks, and to invest in care. Together, the speakers offer a clear alternative to models that treat artworks as commodities or artists as resources. Their work provides spaces for art as a practice of continuity and renewal.
Dr. Fahamu Pecou is an interdisciplinary artist and public scholar whose work interrogates and redefines representations of Black masculinity within contemporary culture. Working across painting, performance, and critical writing, his practice engages hip-hop, popular culture, and art history to examine the ways Black identity is constructed, performed, and contested in public space. Pecou holds a Ph.D. from Emory University, where his dissertation, Do or Die: Affect, Ritual, Resistance, took the form of a multi-disciplinary exhibition. He is the founder and Executive Director of the African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta (ADAMA), a contemporary art museum dedicated to amplifying the art and culture of the African diaspora.
Faron Manuel is the Director and Curator of One Contemporary in Atlanta. A curator-led fine art gallery, that emphasizes the importance of contemporary narratives and artists’ intent. Manuel has previously served as a Board Member and Resource Specialist for the Aspen Institute’s Artist-Endowed Foundations Initiative, and as a member of the International Association of Art Critics. He has also held Grant Manager and Director roles in museums, galleries, and nonprofit organizations.
Dr. Kara Blackmore is a curator and educator who works at the intersections of arts, heritage, and social repair. Her practice is informed by long-term collaborations in areas affected by conflict and migration. Kara has curated exhibitions in Uganda, South Africa, South Sudan, Senegal, The Netherlands, the UK and Colombia. She was Associate Curator for the 15th Dakar Biennale, entitled The Wake. In 2022 she co-founded Borderlands Art gallery in Kampala, Uganda as a space to meaningfully support social, political, and environmental art practices. Kara holds a PhD in international Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Image: Alexandre Kyungu, Bopemi ya mobundi-a warrior’s rest
87x162x7cm
incision and cut on rubber car tire inner tube, 2025
On show at Booth A10