NEW YORK, NY, April 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Third Space Art Foundation will present a performance by ruby onyinyechi amanze (Nigeria/USA) as part of 1922 Revisited, a live arts program taking place during the preview week of the Venice Biennale, May 5–9, 2026.
Curated by Dr. Janine A. Sytsma, the program brings together artists from across Africa and its diasporas to engage a historical moment in the Biennale’s exhibition history through contemporary performance.
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ruby onyinyechi amanze’s practice consists of large-scale drawings on paper that explore the relationship between physical magnitude and aesthetic weightlessness. Using a set of recurring visual elements, she creates spatial compositions that imagine alternative ways of moving through and inhabiting space.
Rooted in the languages of architecture, design, and dance, her work extends beyond drawing into performance and choreography. amanze has created temporary dance companies to develop and present works that exist for a limited duration, often conceived as both a “first and last” iteration before dissolution.
Her work has been exhibited internationally, including inclusion in the 33rd Bienal de São Paulo and exhibitions at The Drawing Room (London) and The Drawing Center (New York). Her drawings are held in the collections of institutions including the Smithsonian, Deutsche Bank, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. In 2025, her work became part of New York City’s public art landscape through a Metropolitan Transportation Authority commission.
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Within 1922 Revisited, amanze will present The Dash, a performance created in collaboration with Wura-Natasha Ogunji.
The work features two performers moving in slow motion over the course of one hour, tracing a path through a defined spatial environment. The performance may take place within an interior or exterior setting, including rooms, corridors, or open plazas.
Spectators participate directly as timekeepers, collectively marking the progression of the performance. Through this shared structure, the work unfolds as a durational exploration of pacing, attention, and collective awareness.
The choreography incorporates minimal gestures, facial expressions, and hand signals as core elements of movement-language, reflecting amanze’s ongoing interest in spatial interaction and the translation of drawn forms into embodied action.
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The work draws from research into the archival record of the 1922 Venice Biennale, as well as references to track and field and systems of notation, extending amanze’s engagement with line, structure, and movement into a live context.
The title The Dash introduces multiple possible readings, including punctuation, interruption, and offering, creating a framework through which time may be experienced as both continuous and segmented.
As the performance unfolds, it forms a shared, processional movement shaped by duration and participation. Rather than competition, the work emphasizes sustained presence and the experience of moving and witnessing together.
Within 1922 Revisited, amanze’s contribution situates drawing, movement, and time as interconnected systems through which spatial and social relationships are explored.
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The program is presented in collaboration with the African Art in Venice Forum (AAVF) and the European Cultural Centre (ECC-Italy), and takes place in dialogue with the curatorial framework of the 2026 Biennale. Titled In Minor Keys, the Biennale emphasizes listening, affect, and the power of intimate, embodied experience.
Key Facts
- ruby onyinyechi amanze presents The Dash in collaboration with Wura-Natasha Ogunji
- Performance takes place during Venice Biennale preview week (May 5–9, 2026)
- Work extends drawing-based practice into performance and choreography
- Two performers move in slow motion over one hour
- Audience serves as collective timekeeper
- Performance engages spatial interaction, gesture, and duration
- Presented by Third Space Art Foundation
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About Third Space Art Foundation
Third Space Art Foundation supports artistic exchange and collective engagement through the cultivation of third spaces – dynamic zones of encounter, negotiation, and creative transformation. Drawing from the widely embraced concept of third space as a site for dialogue, and Homi Bhabha’s decolonial theory of third space as a liminal ground that challenges fixed hierarchies and dominant narratives, Third Space Art Foundation advances practices that expand cultural understanding and foster new frameworks for connection. Through exhibitions, residencies, and collaborative initiatives, it brings together artists and communities across geographic and cultural divides, working to catalyze critical inquiry, mutual understanding, and new structures of solidarity.
To learn more visit: https://thirdspaceartfoundation.org/
- ruby onyinyechi amanze Artist Portrait, 1922 Revisited Venice Biennale 2026
- The Dash Performance by ruby onyinyechi amanze and Wura-Natasha Ogunji at Venice Biennale 2026