Bio
jamilah malika abu-bakare (b. 1982, Benin City, Nigeria) received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, USA in 2019.
abu-bakare's works contemplate refusal, repetition, dedication, and intimacy through sound art, video essay, text off-page and installation. by considering sound over sight, the artist moves both her subject and the audience towards freedom. visit her curatorial debut at auralalterities.com.
Exhibitions
2023 The Politics of Sound, Galt Museum and Archives, Lethbridge, AB, Canada
2022 The Politics of Sound, Two Rivers Gallery, Prince George, BC, Canada
2021 Calling Planet Earth, Espace Pop!, Montreal, QC, Canada
2020 Ontology vs The Ontic, NOW Instant, LA, USA
2020 a lineage of transgression, Artscape Peterborough, Peterborough, ON, Canada
2020 The Other Side of the Sun, Hashtag Gallery, Toronto, ON, Canada
2020 interlude, Art Gallery of Burlington, Burlington, ON, Canada
2019 MFA Show, Sullivan Galleries, Chicago, IL, USA
2019 The Break, The Wake, The Hold, The Breath, Circuit Gallery, Toronto, ON
2018 Take Root Among The Stars. LeRoy Neiman Center, Chicago, IL, USA
2018 SSSSHHHH #2, Flaxman Library Special Collections, Chicago, IL, USA
2018 Critical Mass, Art Gallery of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada
2018 Tone, FIELD Contemporary Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada
RESIDENCIES & FELLOWSHIPS
2020-21 Fellow, SpokenWeb, Montreal, QC, Canada
2019-20 Artist-in-residence, NIA, Toronto, ON, Canada
2019 Residency, Feminist Artist Collective, Gibraltar Point, Toronto, Canada
LECTURES & SYMPOSIA
2023 Lecturer. Black sound (art), York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
2023 Panelist. Black Power Naps Conversation, MoMA, New York City, NY, USA
2022 Presenter. The Politics of Sound, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, ON, Canada
2022 Lecturer. sound as freedom, Two Rivers Gallery, Prince George, BC, Canada
2022 Lecturer. sound as freedom, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
2021 Lecturer. sound as freedom, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, BC, Canada
2020 Presenter. “Fugitivity” et l’art”, African Group for Critical Action and Study, St. Louis, Senegal
2020 Panelist. Language under pressure: A Symposium, Peterborough, ON Canada
CURATED PROJECTS
2021 AURAL ALTERITIES
WRITING & PUBLICATIONS
2023 re-creation, LampBlack: Volume 3. Print.
2023 o.b.a, Maa Ka Maaya Ka Ca A Yere Kono – 13ème Édition des Rencontres de Bamako Biennale Africaine de la Photographie, Archive Books. Print.
2022 the let down, Active Cultures Digest: Issue Twelve. Web.
2022 How Black artists use citational art to build upon one another's legacies, CBC Arts. Web.
2021 Listening Feels, Canadian Art Magazine, Spring 2021. Print.
2019 rest/woke, Black Power Naps Magazine, Broadly/Vice. Web. 2018 listen to black women, TONE. Moniker Press. Print.
RADIO & INTERVIEWS
2023 Interview. JAMILAH MALIKA ABU-BAKARE. Episode 4. A Kind of Harmony.
2022 Featured Artist. EARS HAVE EYES: spatial conjuring and ear specific art for the radio, Episode 1. The Hibernation Project.
2022 Interview. On “Aural Alterities”: An interview with jamilah malika abu-bakare. Episode 74. Constellations.
2022 Interview. Speech Sounds: Our Aesthetics, Celebrating Black Sounds. Episode 4. Hush Harbour.
2020 Interview. Talking about Talking. Season 2, Episode 8. SpokenWeb Podcast.
2019 Interview. Write How You Talk. Episode 10. Contemporaries Podcast.
2018 Interview. Jamilah Malika and Felicia Mings. Episode 9. Black Lives Rooted.
2018 Featured Artist. The Diamond Stingily Show. Radio Broadcast.
COLLECTIONS
Two Rivers Gallery
LANGUAGES
English, French, Spanish