2024
New York
The project was first activated in New York in 2024 within the context of
an international art fair presentation, marking its inaugural public issuance
and entry into global circulation. The activation generated meaningful
engagement with collectors, artists, curators, and the broader art
community, positioning Artworld Passport within an international
discourse on mobility, representation, and structural inequality.
In NewYork, the work entered into dialogue with curatorial figures including the
Curator of African Art at the Brooklyn Museum, reinforcing its relevance
within institutional conversations on transnational artistic practice. The
activation also resulted in institutional acquisition, including purchase by
the Folkets Hus och Parker (Folkets Museum), further embedding the
project within public cultural frameworks. Additionally, engagement with
the Civitella Ranieri Foundation extended the project’s impact into
residency networks and contributed to the nomination of Zimbabwean
artist Tawanda Takura for an international residency fellowship.
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The New York activation therefore not only situated the work within the global art
market but also foregrounded its capacity to operate as a connective
infrastructure linking discourse, acquisition, and mobility across
institutions.
2025
BASEL
The Art Basel Week activation significantly deepened the European
dimension of Artworld Passport, situating the work within one of the most
concentrated nodes of the global art economy. Crucially, the artist’s visa
application to Switzerland was denied in advance of the activation. This
event did not merely obstruct participation; it became materially
embedded within the conceptual framework of the project itself. The
denial transformed the work from a critical commentary on mobility into a
lived geopolitical condition.
The thesis of unequal movement within the art world was no longer theoretical,
it was enacted in real time. The absence of the artist underscored the structural
asymmetries the project seeks to expose, intensifying conversations around who
is permitted to circulate within elite cultural infrastructures.
​
Despite the artist’s physical absence, the activation proceeded during Art
Basel Week as part of the Africa Basel experience, visitors were able to
use the Artworld Passport to gain access to a constellation of partner
institutions during the week, including LISTE Art Fair Basel, Photo Basel,
Kunstmuseum Basel, Haus der Elektronischen Künste, and Fondation
Beyeler, among others. These institutions acknowledged the passport
within the symbolic framework of the project, reinforcing its capacity to
operate as a speculative cultural infrastructure during one of Europe’s
most prominent art gatherings.
​
The Basel activation therefore marked a decisive shift from symbolic
critique to embodied reality. The project did not simply comment on
mobility regimes; it performed them, negotiated them, and was
constrained by them.
2026
CAPE TOWN
The Cape Town activation took place during the Investec Cape Town Art
Fair, widely regarded as the largest contemporary art fair on the African
continent, where Artworld Passport was positioned prominently at the
entrance, ensuring that it formed the first conceptual encounter for
visitors entering the fair. The installation generated sustained dialogue
with audiences who directly identified with the project’s exploration of access
restrictions, visa regimes, and the uneven geographies of cultural
movement, particularly within African contexts where mobility constraints
are frequently experienced firsthand.
​
The Cape Town activation also marked an important institutional
milestone. The project received validation from Iziko Museums of SouthAfrica,
with access extended to holders across several of its major sites,
including the Iziko South African Museum, the South African National
Gallery, the Slave Lodge, the Bo-Kaap Museum, and the Old Town
House. This symbolic recognition within a national museum framework
reinforced the project’s legitimacy as more than an art fair intervention,
positioning it within public cultural infrastructure. Concurrently,
discussions continued with Museum für Moderne Kunst regarding
potential collaboration in another European institutional context.
​
The Cape Town presentation therefore expanded the project’s
continental resonance, demonstrating that its inquiry into mobility is not
abstract but deeply embedded within lived African realities.
2026
VENICE
Arriving in Venice during the opening days of the Biennale, the ArtWorld Passport continues its journey as a conceptual artwork, cultural tool, and living archive of movement through the global art world.
For Venice, the ArtWorld Passport will be issued during the opening period of the Biennale, where it will circulate through exhibitions, forums, collateral events, and independent spaces across the city. This edition extends the project into a landscape where questions of visibility, access, borders, and international participation are especially charged. Venice offers a powerful setting for the passport to operate not only as an object, but as a way of marking cultural presence and mapping artistic exchange in real time.