On the occasion of Thus Masked, the World has a Language, please join us for a conversation between Jadine Collingwood, Associate Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, and Constantine Petridis, the Rita Knox Chair and Curator of Arts of Africa at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Taking the exhibition Thus masked, the world has a language as a point of departure, Collingwood and Petridis will explore a vital element often absent when masks are encountered in Western art institutions: activation. In many African cultures, the term “mask” encompasses far more than the object itself—it speaks to movement, ritual, and embodied presence.
Together, the curators will examine themes of decontextualization, performance, and transformation, considering both what is lost when masks are removed from their original contexts and what new possibilities diasporic artists have forged in the wake of that rupture.
The conversation will be moderated by Scott Vincent Campbell, Midwest Programs Manager for Independent Curators International.
Scott Vincent Campbell (b. 1983) is an artist, arts administrator, and curator from New York, NY. He earned a BA in Fine Art from Haverford College in 2005, and an MFA from The University of Chicago in 2022. Campbell’s work has been exhibited across the US at institutions such as the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, IL; the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art in Grand Rapids, MI; Library Street Collective in Detroit, MI; Big Medium in Austin, TX; and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts and Pierogi Gallery in New York, NY. Campbell was a resident at Red Bull Arts Detroit in 2016, and in 2017 was the first Ford Curatorial Fellow at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. He is a recipient of the SPARK Grant from the Chicago Artist Coalition, The Artist Grant from The Reva & David Logan Foundation, and a 2025 DCASE IAP awardee. Campbell currently lives and works in Chicago, IL, where he also serves as the Midwest Programs Manager for Independent Curators International. He was named one of Newcity’s 2024 Art 50, and is curator for the upcoming Biennial 33 at the South Bend Museum of Art.