This conversation was recorded on 20th October 2021 as a part of the exhibition Owed to a certain Emptiness: Infra-structuring the Conflictorium between Kemi Ilesanmi and Avni Sethi held at the Aronson Galleries at The New School hosted by the Vera List Center of Art and Politics in New York.
Kemi Ilesanmi is Executive Director of The Laundromat Project, which advances artists and neighbors as change agents in their own communities. She is inspired by the immense possibilities for joyful justice at the intersection of arts and community. She has previously worked at Creative Capital Foundation and Walker Art Center. In 2015, she was appointed by the Mayor of New York City to the Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission -- serving as chair since 2020. She has been honored by the Metropolitan Museum and Project for Empty Space. Observer included her on the Arts Power 50 list in 2020. She serves on the boards of the Joan Mitchell Foundation, Smith College Museum of Art, and The Broad Room. A graduate of Smith College, NYU, and Coro Leadership NY, she is also a Sterling Network Fellow.
To know more about the exhibition visit - https://veralistcenter.org/exhibitions/owed-to-a-certain-emptiness/
To know more about Conflictorium visit - https://www.conflictorium.org/
