Announcing Nkule Mabaso as the new director at Fotogalleriet

People as infrastructure. Community as success.

– Nkule Mabaso

The Board of Fotogalleriet is proud to present Nkule Mabaso as director from 2024 to 2028.

Fotogalleriet’s board is enthusiastic about handing over the reins to a curator with an artist-centred practice, whose expertise is collaboration, and skill set to connect art and society.

Nkule Mabaso is a curious and ambitious curator, with a strong interest in how networks can unleash the potential of both the institution and for artists. We look forward to the development she can bring to Fotogalleriet, with its unique position and history as Norway’s only kunsthalle for contemporary photography.

Nkule Mabaso says ‘I am thrilled to join Fotogalleriet and contribute to the institution’s success by amplifying the critical practices of artists working with photography and lens-based media. In a world increasingly shaped by personal and global divisions, I look forward to collaborating with artists and other colleagues, both in Norway and internationally, to further establish Fotogalleriet as a space for meaningful, generative encounters. Over the next four years, we will expand the reach of the discourses we engage in, while embracing diverse artistic voices to explore affective possibilities in photography.’

Chairperson Anne Szefer Karlsen says ‘Nkule Mabaso has the experience we need to further strengthen Fotogalleriet’s programme and position in our community. Her ability to create opportunities for how people can work together to develop both the art field, and the surrounding community locally and globally will be particularly valuable in the time to come. Mabaso’s practice is particularly well-suited to fulfil Fotogalleriet’s motto “Who sees. Who is seen” with relevant content.’

Mabaso holds an MAS Curating degree from Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) and has an impressive career path leading her to Oslo and Norway.

In 2019, through Natal Collective, Mabaso curated and produced South Africa’s official participation in the 58th Venice Biennale with Nomusa Makhubu and the artists Dineo Seshee Bopape, Tracey Rose, and Mawande Ka Zenzile entitled The Stronger we become.

She was curator at Michaelis Galleries at the University of Cape Town from 2015 to 2021, working on both exhibitions and publications.

She was contributing editor to the Oncurating.org Journal for the notable issues 32/2016 This Context: Collaborations & Biennials, and 49/2021 Decolonial Propositions. More recently Mabaso was co-editor of the anthology Climate: Our Right to Breathe (2022) alongside Hiuwai Chu, Meagan Down, Pablo Martínez, and Corina Oprea.

For press inquiries, please contact Fotogalleriets Head of Mediation and Communication
Lisa Andrine Bernhoft-Sjødin

lisa@fotogalleriet.no