ACASA

Arts Council of the African Studies Association

ACASA Award for Curatorial Excellence

By

The submission portal for nominations will open in September 2026. 

 

The Awards for Curatorial Excellence recognize the important contributions to the dissemination and understanding of African and African Diaspora Arts made through exhibitions. Exhibitions related to permanent collections, loan shows, commissioned works or community interventions organized by museums, galleries, cultural centers, and exhibition spaces of all sorts are eligible. Up to two awards for curatorial excellence will be given. Runners-up may also be recognized.

Eligibility

The exhibition should have opened between Sept. 1, 2023 and Sept. 1, 2026.

Exhibition eligibility: Both nominator and nominee(s)—if different–must be ACASA members in good standing. Join ACASA

Incomplete or late submissions will not be considered.

Submission Process and Materials

All submissions should include the following materials:

  1. Cover page indicating title of exhibition, dates, venue(s), curator(s) names
  2. Synopsis of exhibition (one-page)
  3. Sample publication where applicable. This can include PDFs of take-away brochures, exhibition preview article or other means of documentation and distribution of project. If no publication was possible, please submit a bibliography of 5 key sources germane to the show’s thesis or points of departure.
  4. Sample didactics (labels or other interpretive materials, such as on-line description, that demonstrate the exhibition’s intellectual content and curatorial vision. Not to exceed 3-pages)
  5. Visual documentation: up to 5 still digital images, at least one of which must show installation, context or performance space; up to 2 videos or links, not to exceed 3 minutes in length to document performance or time-based projects.
  6. Link to or documentation of innovative uses of technology or interactive engagement
  7. Description of institution, organization or entity originating the exhibition (for example museum, independent art space, pop-up…, including mission, history, collection (if applicable), size, staff, budget, audience and other information pertinent to understanding the context in which the exhibition emerged.
  8. Documentation of community response. Up to three (3) examples that demonstrate various perspectives. These might include emails, sample entries from audience response books, or social media postings and not just critical or press reviews.

Assessment Criteria

For consideration for this award, the awards committee will consider exhibitions that:

  1. Generate new scholarship across the humanities or beyond
  2. Open new perspectives on the field
  3. Collaborate with and/or contribute to local or stakeholder communities
  4. Demonstrate innovative approaches to exhibition design and presentation
  5. Expand understandings or uses of technology

The submission portal for nominations will open in September 2026. 

Please contact Caroline Bastian, ACASA Project Manager, for any questions or comments at bastian@acasaonline.org.

 

2024 ACASA Award for Curatorial Excellence

Africa-Based Exhibition Winner:

Bernard Akoi-Jackson for Simply Iconic! Vintage Images off the Beaten Path at The Heritage Photo Lab in Accra

Large-Scale Exhibition Winner:

Paul Basu for [Re]Entanglements: Colonial Collections in Decolonial Times at Museum of Archeology and Anthropology at Cambridge University

Small-Scale Exhibition Winner

Laura de Becker for Wish You Were Here: African Art and Restitution at University of Michigan Museum of Art

Shortlisted (in no particular order):

Andrea Gyorody and Matthew Francis Rarey for Afterlives of the Black Atlantic at Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College

Kevin D. Dumouchelle for Heroes: Principles of African Greatness at National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian

Rachel Kabukala for Radical Revisionists: Contemporary African Artists Confronting Past & Present at Moody Center for the Arts at Rice University

Tameka Ellington and Joseph L. Underwood for Textures: the history and art of Black hair at Kent State University Museum

Sandrine Colard for Congoville at Middelheim Museum, Antwerp

David M. Riep for Shattering Perspectives: A Teaching Collection of African Ceramics at Gregory Allicar Museum of Art at Colorado State University