Siddhartha Mitter plans a series of features and essays about the contemporary art boom’s effect in Africa. Art scenes are emerging in hub cities across the continent (e.g. Lagos, Abidjan, Accra, Nairobi, Dakar, Johannesburg, Casablanca) thanks to efforts by artists themselves, initiatives by artists resident abroad or recently returned, and nascent classes of local collectors and philanthropists. Mitter will examine this situation through a mix of medium-length features reported in select African sites, and short pieces (including reviews of pertinent exhibitions/events) written from New York.
Siddhartha Mitter is an arts journalist with a background in the social sciences, specifically the politics and economics of developing countries. He writes on contemporary art weekly for the Village Voice, and wrote regularly for the Boston Globe from 2004-2015. He teaches in the Arts Writing program at the School of Visual Arts.