The Future of Cultural Centers: Uzodinma Iweala, The Africa Center

*This event is occurring as a live webinar. Registrants will be emailed a link to access the program.*

The Future of Cultural Centers Dialogue Series
As the world rapidly changes around us, old frameworks for the development of cultural centers looks less and less relevant. During the Summer and Fall of 2020, AIA New York will look specifically at museums, questioning what would happen if we were to take this unprecedented time to explore new missions, visions, and (spatial) programs for existing and new museums. What will 21st-century museums be like? Join us for this Fall line-up of conversations as cultural forecaster and museum expert David van der Leer, Principal of DVDL DD, speaks with museum professionals from around the US and beyond. 

In this week’s installment, Van der Leer will be joined in conversation by Uzodinma Iweala, Chief Excecutive Officer, The Africa Center. The Africa Center provides a gateway for engagement with contemporary Africa. The center is transforming the world’s understanding of Africa, its Diaspora and the role of people of African descent in the world. Serving as the hub for the exchange of ideas around culture, business, and policy related to the continent, and in the spirit of collaboration and engagement with individuals and institutions who share the Center’s values, The Africa Center inspires enthusiasm, and advances thought and action around Africa’s global influence and impact on our collective and shared futures.

Speakers:
Uzodinma Iweala, Chief Excecutive Officer, The Africa Center
David van der Leer, Principal, DVDL DD

About the speakers: 

Uzodinma Iweala is an award-winning writer, filmmaker, and medical doctor. As the CEO of The Africa Center, he is dedicated to promoting a new narrative about Africa and is Diaspora. Iweala was the CEO, Editor-In-Chief, and co-Founder of Ventures Africa magazine, a publication that covers the evolving business, policy, culture, and innovation spaces in Africa. His books include Beasts of No Nation, a novel released in 2005 to critical acclaim and adapted into a major motion picture; Our Kind of People, a non-fiction account of HIV/AIDS in Nigeria released in 2012; and Speak No Evil, a novel about a queer first-generation Nigerian-American teen living in Washington, D.C. He was also the founding CEO of the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria, an organization that promotes private sector investment in health services and health innovation in Nigeria.

David van der Leer is a consultant, curator, educator, moderator, researcher, strategist, and writer. He is the principal of DVDL DD, a New York City and Rotterdam-based agency of cultural forecasters, institutional strategists, and design matchmakers, where he advises institutions, government agencies, corporations, and individuals in reinventing the institutions of yesterday and building the most inspirational institutions of tomorrow. Along with his consulting work, David van der Leer is a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation where he teaches a course called (Re)Programming Museums.

Explore all events in the series and register for upcoming programs here.