Nigerian Writer, Kelechi Njoku Makes List For Kehinde Wiley Black Rock Senegal Residency

Kelechi Njoku has been announced as one of the residents for the 2019 Kehinde Wiley Black Rock Senegal Residency.

Kelechi Njoku is a Nigerian writer and editor. His short story, “By Way of a Life Plot” was shortlisted for the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize. He also won the 2014 Writivism Short Story Prize for his story “Survived By.”

Kehinde Wiley is a United States portrait painter, his famous work is a portrait of President Barack Obama sitting in a chair seemingly floating among foliage for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. The artist recently decided to set up a multidisciplinary residency he called “Black Rock Senegal” for visual artists, filmmakers, photographers, writers and all the rest of them. The Black Rock Senegal property, which started operations in May 2019, includes a residence and studio space for Wiley along with three single-occupancy residency apartments with adjacent studio spaces.

The first residents were selected by the judging panel of artists Mickalene Thomas and Carrie Mae Weems; Thelma Golden, director and chief curator of the Studio Museum in Harlem; Christine Riding, head of the curatorial department at The National Gallery in London; Thomas Lax, curator of performance and media art at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; and Swizz Beatz, the artist, collector, and music producer.

The first phase of the residency programme will commence from August to April 2020.