Renzo Martens
Biography
Born in The Netherlands, 1973
Lives and works in Amsterdam (NL) and Lusanga (D.R. Congo)
Education
2010 – 2020 PhD. Candidate, School of Arts, University Ghent
2013 Yale World Fellow
2010 ISCP-resident, New York
1999 – 2000 Free University, Brussels
1993 – 1996 Gerrit Rietveld Academy, Amsterdam
1992 – 1993 Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Ghent
1991 – 1992 Political Sciences, Radboud University Nijmegen
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2024
Dutch pavilion (in collaboration with CATPC and curator Hicham Khalidi), Venice Biennale
2022
Balot (in collaboration with CATPC), KOW Berlin
2021
Global Launch White Cube: online series of lectures and screenings
Participating institutions: National Museum (Kinshasa), KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin), SCCA (Tamale), BlaxTARLINES, KNUST (Kumasi), African Artists’ Foundation (Lagos), V-A-C (Moscow), Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven), Wiels (Brussels), ICA (London), Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), Picha (Lubumbashi), MPavilion (Melbourne), Museum MACAN (Jakarta), Sharjah Art Foundation, The Africa Institute (Sharjah).
Participants: CATPC, Ibrahim Mahama, Karï' Kachä Seid'ou, Nurhady Sirimorok, Halim HD, Asri Winata, Kirill Adibekov, Renzo Martens, Henry Bundjoko, Franklin Mubwabu Mbobe, Pala Kamango, Eléonore Hellio, Charles Tumba, Mami Kataoka, Hikaru Fujii, Surafel Wondimu, Charles Esche, Oluwatoyin Sogbesan, Azu Nwagbogu, David Gianotten, Helen Runting, Arsene Ijambo, Suhail Malik, Sandrine Colard, Aymar Nyenyezi Bisoka, Jean-François Mombia Atuku, Clémentine Deliss, Wendy Bashi, Selom Kudje, Kwasi Ohene-Ayeh, and Tirdad Zolghadr
Forced Love (in collaboration with Irène Kanga / CATPC), KOW Berlin
2020
Forced Love (in collaboration with Irène Kanga / CATPC), EYE Filmmuseum, Amsterdam
2017
The Repatriation of The White Cube (in collaboration with CATPC), Lusanga, DRC
Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs des Plantations Congolaise (in collaboration with CATPC),
Sculpture Center, New York City
2016
Cercle d’Art des Travailleurs des Plantations Congolaise (in collaboration with CATPC), MIMA,
Middlesborough
2015
A New Settlement (in collaboration with CATPC), Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam
A Lucky Day (in collaboration with CATPC), KOW, Berlin
The Matter of Critique (in collaboration with CATPC), KunstWerke, Berlin
2014
A Capital Accumulation Program, The BOX Gallery, Los Angeles
2011
Episode 3, Kunsthalle Goteborg
2009
Episode 3, Wilkinson Gallery, London
2008
Episode 3, Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam
2005
Episode 1, Vtape, Toronto
2004
Episode 1, Marres, Maastricht
2003
Episode 1, Gallery Fons Welters, Amsterdam
1999
Rien ne va plus, de Merodestraat, Brussel
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2025
MUSEUM YET TO BE (in collaboration with CATPC), Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro, Podgorica
2023
The Way We Are 5.0 (in collaboration with CATPC), Weserburg Museum for Modern Art, Bremen
Into The Great Wide Open (in collaboration with CATPC), Vlieland
Economics the Blockbuster – It’s not Business as Usual (in collaboration with CATPC), The Whitworth, Manchester
My Last Will, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz
Someone Is Getting Rich (in collaboration with CATPC), Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam
Monomaterial (in collaboration with CATPC), Kunstsaele, Berlin
2022
Das Auto Rosi Aber, KOW Berlin
Ruins and Empires (in collaboration with CATPC), Sofia Art Projects II, Sofia
The Way We Are 4.0 (in collaboration with CATPC), Weserburg Museum for Modern
Art, Bremen
Dream City Festival (in collaboration with CATPC), L’Art Rue, Tunis
Dig Where You Stand (in collaboration with CATPC), SCCA TamaleKOW (in collaboration with CATPC), Art Basel, Switzerland
Time is Going – Archive and Future Memories (in collaboration with CATPC), Dak'art
Biennale, Dakar, Senegal
Made in X (in collaboration with CATPC), Extra City, Antwerp, Belgium
Hurting and Healing: Let’s Imagine a Different Heritage (in collaboration with CATPC),
Tensta Konsthalle, Stockholm, Sweden
2021
Staple: What’s on your plate? (in collaboration with CATPC), Art Jameel, Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia
2020
Risquons-Tout (in collaboration with CATPC), Wiels, Brussels, Belgium
MONOCULTURE | A Recent History, M HKA, Antwerp, Belgium
2019
Freedom – The Fifty Key Dutch Artworks Since 1968, Museum De Fundatie, Zwolle, The
Netherlands
Picture Industry, Luma Foundation, Arles, France
KOW (in collaboration with CATPC), Art Basel, Switzerland
2018
Catastrophe and the Power of Art (in collaboration with CATPC), Mori Art Museum, Tokyo,
Japan
Nieuw Amsterdams Peil (in collaboration with CATPC), Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam,
The Netherlands
The Way Things Run, Part II: Cargo (in collaboration with CATPC), PS120, Berlin, Germany
Superposition: Equilibrium & Engagement (in collaboration with CATPC), 21st Biennale of
Sydney, Australia
2017
TRANSAKTIONEN, Über den Wert künstlerischer Arbeit HaL (in collaboration with CATPC),
Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin, Germany
The Armory Show (in collaboration with CATPC) (Focus selection), New York City, USA
2016
Bread and Roses (in collaboration with CATPC), Museum for Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland
2015
Neither Back Nor Forward: Acting in the Present, Jakarta Biennial, Indonesia
Produktion (in collaboration with CATPC), Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna, Austria
2014
Confessions of the Imperfect (in collaboration with CATPC), Van Abbe Museum,
Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Artes Mundi 6 (in collaboration with CATPC), National Museum Cardiff, UK
Böse Clowns, Hartware Medien Kunstverein, Dortmund, Germany
Manifesto! An alternative history of photography, Folkwang/Winterthur,
Germany/Switzerland
Hunting and Collecting, Mu.Zee, Ostend, Belgium
You Imagine what You Desire, 19th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
9 Artists, MIT List Visual Art Center, Cambridge, USA
2013
Arte Útil, Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
global aCtIVISm, ZKM I Museum of Contemporary Art, Karlsruhe, Germany
9 Artists, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA
Ghost in the system - scenarios for resistance, Moscow Biennale, Moscow, Russia
Space of Exception, Artplay, Moscow Biennale, Moscow, Russia
Either/Or, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, Germany
Either/Or, Nikolaj Kunsthal, Copenhagen, Denmark
2012
Forget Fear, 7th Berlin Biennial, Berlin, Germany
Models for Taking Part, Kenderdine Art Gallery, Saskatoon, Canada
A Series of Navigations, Sligo, Ireland
2011
Moscow Auditorium. A Sketch for a Public Space, curated by Ekaterina Degot, Joanna
Mytkowska and David Riff, Moscow, Russia
Antiphotojournalism, Le Peuple qui Manque, Le Bal, Paris, France
Models for Taking Part, Hart House, University of Toronto, Canada
Radical Ruptures, Kunsthalle Charlottenburg, Copenhagen, Denmark
All that Fits: the Aesthetics of Journalism, Quad, Derby, UK
A Film Cycle, Nomas Foundation, Rome, Italy
Models for Taking Part, The Polygon, Vancouver, Canada
Antiphotojournalism, Foam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
My War, Participation in an Age of Conflict, Kingston, Canada
Alias, Krakow Photo Month, Krakow, Poland
2010
Into the Eye of the Storm, Center for Digital Art, Holon, Israel
2nd Antakya Biennale, Antakya, Turkey
The Ethics of the Encounter, Stills Gallery, Edinburg, Scotland
Monumentalism, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Antiphotojournalism, La Vireinna, Barcelona, Spain
The Human Condition, curated by Adam Budak, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, Austria
6th Berlin Biennial, Berlin, Germany
My War, Edith Russ Haus fir Medienkunst, Oldenburg, Germany
All that is Solid Melts into the Air, Museu Coleccao Berardo, curated by Miguel Amado,
Lisbon, Portugal
And the Moral of the Story is..., Apex Art, NYC, USA
My War: Participation in an Age of War, FACT, Liverpool, UK
Self as Disappearance, Espace d' Art Contemporain La Synagogue de Delme, Delme,
France
Act III: And the moral of the story is..., Witte de With, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
2009
Recent Acquisitions, De Hallen, Haarlem, The Netherlands
Le Temps de la Fin, Espace d' Art Contemporain La Tollerie, Clermond Ferrand, France
Rien ne va Plus, Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Exploring the Age of Repression, Pavilion, Bucharest, Romania
Images Recalled, Fotofestival Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg, Germany
Monumentalismus, One’s History is Another’s Misery, Autocenter, Berlin, Germany
Until the End of the World, AMP Gallery, Athens, Greece
2008
To Burn Oneself with Oneself: the Romantic Damage Show, De Appel, Amsterdam, The
Netherlands
L’Art en Europe, Domaine Pommery, Reims, France
Weder Entweder Noch Oder, Wuerttembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany
Manifesta 7, Matter of Fact, curated by Krist Gruijthuijsen, Treviso, Italy
Brussel Biennial, Brussels, Belgium
Matter of Fact; Aftermath, Galeria Vermelho, Sao Paulo, Brazil
2006
A Picture of War is not War, Wilkinson Gallery, London, UK
Excess, Z33, Hasselt, Belgium
Frieze Art Fair, Wilkinson Gallery, London, UK
2005
Inner and Outer Worlds, Argos, Brussels, Belgium
Soft Target, Basis Actuele Kunst (BAK), Utrecht, The Netherlands
2004
Plug-In, Futura, Prague, Czech Republic
Yugoslav Biennial, Vrsac, Serbia
Monitoring, Kunstverein Kassel, Kassel, Germany
2003
Urban Dramas, De Singel, Antwerp, Belgium
Etablissements d’en Face, Brussels, Belgium
Art Cologne, Galerie Fons Welters, Cologne, Germany
2023
White Cube screening and artist talk, 10 Years of Double Feature, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt
XXII: Provoke me if you can. The crisis of artistic disturances with Núria Güell, Renzo Martens and Florian Malzacher, Art of Assembly, Munich
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2022
Episode III: Enjoy Poverty screening, FORMAT, QUAD-Derby, Derby
White Cube and Enjoy Poverty screening, Palazzo Grassi, Venice
White Cube screening and talk with Renzo Martens and Maia Ghattas, Points communs, ParisWhite Cube Q&A with Renzo Martens, Congo in Harlem, online
Contracts for Earth, with Ced'art Tamasala and Matthieu Kasiama
(CATPC), Renzo Martens, Julia Watson and Youssef Nassef, Studio Bonn, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn
2021
Talk with Ibrahim Mahama and Renzo Martens moderated by Jarrett
Gregory, Callies, Berlin
White Cube and Episode III: Enjoy Poverty screening and Q&A with
Renzo Martens, Callies, Berlin
White Cube, UK premiere of White Cube and discussion with Renzo
Martens, Suhail Malik, Emilia Terracciano and Ibrahim Mahama, ICA, London
White Cube screening and Q&A with Renzo Martens, Kunsthal Extra
City, Antwerp
White Cube screening and debate with Bambi Ceuppens, Don Moussa
Pandzou and Renzo Martens, moderated by Elien Spillebeen, Docville, Leuven
White Cube screening and debate, De Cinema, Antwerp, in
collaboration with M HKA
2020
Renzo Martens: from ‘Enjoy Poverty ‘ to ‘White Cube’, with Renzo Martens,
Irène Kanga (CATPC), Matthieu Kasiama (CATPC), Ced’art Tamasala (CATPC), Ama van Dantzig and Alphonse Muambi, De Balie, Amsterdam
Perspectives from the Post-Plantation, with Ced’art Tamasala (CATPC) and
Matthieu Kasiama (CATPC), Yale ISTF, New Haven
Enjoy Poverty, debate with with Marcus Barfuss and Renzo Martens,
Rietberg Museum, Zurich
2019
Renzo Martens, De Ateliers, Amsterdam
Realty, KunstWerke, Berlin
2018
Art in a time of Catastrophe, Conference, Mori Art Museum/Ruskin school of
Art, Tokyo
Reverse Gentification and Financializing Critique with Suhail Malik,
KunstWerke Berlin
2017
Het Ritme van Kunst, with Pascal Gielen, Bozar, Brussel
New Utopia, with David Gianotten, Stuk, Leuven
2016
Renzo Martens from the Institute for Human Activities, Goldsmiths, London
De Balie x IDFA Special: Beeldbepalers with Renzo Martens, De Balie,
Amsterdam
2015
On the Institute for Human Activities, Oxford University, Oxford
Consider it done: On Cosmopolitan Collectivism, Jakarta Biennial
Artist Talk with Renzo Martens, Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna
Between Dissent and Discipline, On the Institute for Human Activities,
Malmö
Flying Carpet #18: Renzo Martens, Iaspis, Stockholm
Renzo Martens, with the Institute for Human Activities, Artes Mundi, Cardiff
Arts Organisation International Hebel Am Ufer, Berlin
2014
On the Institute for Human Activities, Institute of Contemporary Arts,
London
It's very Political, Koninklijke Academie voor Wetenschappen, Amsterdam
Screening Episode 3, Renzo Martens in conversation with Claire Bishop,
CUNY Center for the Humanities, NY
On the Institute for Human Activities, MIT List Visual Art Center, Cambridge,
USA
More news on the Institute for Human Activities, Städelschule, Frankfurt
Episode III: Enjoy Poverty, VPRO NPO Doc, Netherlands
2013
On the Institute for Human Activities, CPH:DOX, Copenhagen
Nina Möntmann interviews Renzo Martens, Iaspis, Stockholm
Off-site panel: Art and Media in Congo, Congo in Harlem Film Festival, New
York
On the Institute for Human Activities, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
On the Institute for Human Activities, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina
Sofia, Madrid
On the Institute for Human Activities, Hebel am Ufer, Berlin
On the Institute for Human Activities, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
On the Institute for Human Activities, University College, London
On the Institute for Human Activities, Wiels, Brussels
Battles Of Images, Contemporary Image Collective (CIC), Cairo
Interdisciplinary Seminar: T.J. Demos considers Episode III, Cooper Union
School of Art, New York
The Politics of the Social in Contemporary Art, with the Institute for Human
Activities, Tate Modern, London
2012
The Opening Seminar of the Institute for Human Activities
Closing event 7th Berlin Biennial, KunstWerke, Berlin
On the Institute for Human Activities, Städelschule, Frankfurt
On the Institute for Human Activities, Yale University, New Haven
2011
Episode 3, The Thinking Eye, Kunstverein, Milan
Episode 3, a conversation between Stefan Jonsson and Renzo Martens,
House of Win Win, Goteborg
Episode 3, a conversation between Yehoshua Simon and Renzo
Martens, Israeli Center for Digital Art, Holon, Israel
Episode 1 and 3, a debate with Lieven de Cauter and Ruben de Roo,
Ritz, Brussels
2010
Capitalism and the Aesthetics of Knowledge in the 21st century, Kunsthalle
Athena, Athens
Image Mouvement, Centre d'Art Contemporain, Geneve
12 Gestures, Screening and Discussion around Episode 3, with Matthieu
Kasiama, Abonnenc, Betonsalon, Fondation Kadist, Paris
Do We All Have Strength Enough to Endure the Misfortunes of Others?, A
Conversation about Episode 3, with Jennifer Allen, Felix Ensslin, Renzo Martens, Ana Teixeira Pinto and Dieter Roelstraete, Salon Populaire, Berlin
Episode 3, Screening, Liebaert Projects, Foundation for Contemporary Art,
Kortrijk
Episode 3, Screenings and Discussions in Kinshasa, Centre Wallonie-
Bruxelles and Halle de la Gombe
Episode 3, A Screening and Conversation with Renzo Martens by T.J. Demos
and Tamar Garb, Tate Modern, London
Uneven Geographies, curated by T.J. Demos and Alex Farquharson,
Screening and Conversation with Alfredo Cramerotti and Renzo Martens, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham
The Hopelessness of Contemporary Art, Symposium around Episode 3, with
TJ Demos, Hilde Van Gelder, Carles Guerra, Thomas Keenan, Toma Muteba Luntumbue, Renzo Martens, The Lieven Gevaert Research Centre for Photography, Leuven
Eric van Lieshout, Renzo Martens and Hans de Hartog-Jager, Museum de
Hallen, Haarlem
2009
Globaliseringslezing, A Conversation with Jos de Putter and Renzo Martens,
Felix Meritis, Amsterdam
Episode 3, A Conversation with Jan Ritsema and Renzo Martens,
Kaaitheater, Theaterfestival, Brussels
Episode 3, A Conversation with Dana Linsen, Renzo Martens and Joris
Luyendijk, Ketelhuis, Amsterdam
The Future of Picturing the World: Filming and Imaging in a Global Era. A
discussion with Lilie Chouliaraki, Max Houghton, Renzo Martens, Julian Stallabrass, London School of Economics, London
Episode 3, A Conversation between JJ Charlesworth and Renzo Martens,
Wilkinson Gallery, London
Lost and Found at the New Museum, New York
Lapdogs of the Bourgeoisie, curated by Nav Haq and Tirdad Zolghadr,
Arnolfini, Bristol
Hors Pistes, and Collussions, Screenings and Debates, Centre Pompidou,
Paris
2008
Episode 3, A Conversation with Marc Nash and Renzo Martens, Stedelijk
Museum Bureau Amsterdam
A Prior # 16, A Conversation with Els Roelandt and Renzo Martens,
Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten, Gent
Joris Luyendijk debat, LUX, Nijmegen
2006
A Night with Renzo Martens, curated by Krist Gruijthuijsen, Platform
Garanti, Istanbul
2004
Whose story is it? IDFA Masterclass, Amsterdam
Undercurrents, Presentations by Hito Steyerl, Boris Buden, Renzo Martens,
Basis Actuele Kunst (BAK), Utrecht
Constructing Visions, A Screening and Conversation with Renzo Martens,
TENT, Rotterdam
Mediamatic Supersalon, A Conversation with Renzo Martens, Mediamatic,
Amsterdam
I Love Video Art, Musee d’Art Contemporain, Srassbourg
2003
Blich zum Nachbarn, Kunstfilmbiennale, curated by Chris Dercon, Cologne
2002
De Avonden, De Appel, Amsterdam
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Robert Mallary’s Luminous Mobiles, Time, March 10, 1952; Art Crahes Through the Junk Pile, Life magazine, November 24, 1961; The Air of Art is Poisoned, Art News, October, 1963; Robert Mallary: A Self-Interview, Location Magazine, Spring 1963; Interview, Artforum, January, 1964; Ideologue in Lotus Land, Art News, October, 1966; Computer Sculpture: Six Levels of Cybernetics, Artforum, May, 1969; Notes on Jack Burnham’s Concepts of a Software Exhibition, Leonardo, 1970; Spatial-Synesthetic Art through 3-D Projection: The Requirements of a Computer-Based Supermedium, Leonardo, 1990
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NYC Doc, New York
Pordenone Docs, Pordenone
Lo schermo dell’arte, Firenze
DART, Barcelona and Madrid
CPH:Dox, Copenhagen
Anasy Festival, Abu DhabiAgainst Gravity, Warshau
Bergen Film Festival, Bergen
Munchen Doc, Munchen
Doc House SwedenBertha DocHouse, London
Filmfestival, Guadalajara
Leeds Filmfestival, Leeds
Atlantic Mirror, Rio de Janeiro
One World Filmfestival, Bukarest
Prirzen Docufest, Kosovo
Salem Filmfestival
Tarifa African filmfestival
Vermont Filmfestival
Jersey Amnesty Filmfestival
Doc Lounge Sweden Docpoint
Helsinki International Filmfestival
Guadalajara Filmfestival
Raccontare el Vero, Parma
Aarhus Filmfestival
African Filmfestival, Milan
Bergen Filmfestival
Nederlands Filmfestival, Utrecht
Jerusalem Filmfestival
Talinn Black Nights Filmfestival
New Zealand filmfestival
Planet Doc review, Warzawa
Docville festival, Leuven
Alba International Filmfestival
Dockenama, Maputo
MiradasDoc, Tenerife
Rencontres Internationales du Film Documentaire, Montreal
Planet Doc review, Warzawa
DocHouse, London
SilverDocs, Washington DC
HotDocs, Toronto
Thessaloniki Documentary Filmfestival, Thessaloniki
IDFA, Amsterdam
Past Shows
