New York curator gives lecture at SA Jewish Museum

In this presentation, Hoffmann will discuss a trilogy of exhibitions he curated for the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts in San Francisco, all of which were based on iconic American novels: The Wizard of Oz (2008), Moby Dick (2009), and Huckleberry Finn (2010). The exhibitions explored the relationship between art, politics and cultural history through the lens of literature to reveal how elements such as time, process, movement and space can form the nexus of an exhibition, turning it into a dynamic set of juxtapositions, as opposed to a static environment in a neutral space.

Jens Hoffmann is an exhibition maker and writer based in New York. He is currently deputy director and head of exhibitions and public programs of the Jewish Museum in New York. From 2007 to 2012, Hoffmann was the director of the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts in San Francisco and, prior to that, director of exhibitions of the ICA in London. He has curated a number of large-scale exhibitions, most recently the 9th Shanghai Biennale (2012) and the 12th Istanbul Biennial (2011).

Journalist and author

Hoffmann is the founding editor of The Exhibitionist: Journal on Exhibitions Making, which he started in 2009. His most recent books include Ten Fundamental Questions of Curating (2013) and Show Time: A History of Exhibitions (2013). He has been a Visiting Professor at the Nova Academia De Belle Arti in Milan since 2004 and was Associate Professor at the Curatorial Practice Program of the California College of the Arts in San Francisco from 2007 to 2012.

The lecture will take place at the South African Jewish Museum, 88 Hatfield Street, Cape Town, and is free. Seating is limited and booking is required. For more information and bookings, contact az.ca.tcu@satnad.ycnan or +27 (0)21 480 7151.