Renzo Martens is a controversial Dutch artist and filmmaker who in 2010 founded the Institute for Human Activities, an arts-based development program in Democratic Republic of Congo that brings together artists, thinkers and specialists. With a nod to precedents in cities like New York and Berlin, the Institute aims to turn art production into an engine of economic growth in Congo, hoping to improve the lives of the people around its settlement. Renzo will present the Institute of Human Activities and discuss its relationship to his previous work in the Congo, the documentary film “Episode III: Enjoy Poverty”.

In conversation with Claire Bishop (Art History, Graduate Center, CUNY) and Ashley Dawson (English, College of Staten and Graduate Center, CUNY).

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