The Ens Project by Leo Asemota
This is a Temporary website for The Ens Project an ongoing multipartite work of art by Nigerian born London based artist Leo Asemota.
Asemota has been evolving The Ens Project since spring 2005. The Project’s formative and creative impetus are ancient and contemporary Nigeria’s Edo peoples of Benin’s rich tradition of art and ceremony and their annual Igue rite to the Head; Victorian Britain’s history of invention, exploration and conquest in which the sacking and looting of the former Kingdom of Benin is of particular interest; and the essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” by the German cultural theorist Walter Benjamin.
This Temporary website presents an overview of the Project’s phases, its history, list of works and an ens cyclopædia of related subject matter.
2019
Exhibitions and Presentations
“Leo Asemota | The Intrinsic Tendency of The Ens Sign / Of Skill At The Oath”
Sharjah Biennial 14
Publications
Look For Me All Around You
Edited by Claire Tancons. Published by Sharjah Art Foundation / Prestel
ISBN: 978-3-7913-5851-2
Articles and Reviews
Leo Asemota’s ‘The Ens Project’
Chris Spring
Nka Journal for Contemporary African Art
May 2019 Issue 44
ISSN: 1075-7163
EISSN: 2152-7792
2018
Public Program
Leo Asemota in discussion on “An Ending, A Beginning”
Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
2017
Exhibitions and Presentations
“Leo Asemota | After Walter” 10th Anniversary broadcast
Resonance 104.4FM
19 January
Publications
Leo Asemota | After Walter: 10th anniversary edition
Artists’ Book
2016
Exhibitions and Presentations
“Leo Asemota | After Walter Archive”
Leeds College of Art
20 October - 16 December
Public Program
Leeds Art Walk Pavilion Visual Arts, Leeds
7 December
Meet the Artist Leeds College of Art
8 November
Film screening
Leo Asemota | After Walter: Act 1
SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin
2015
Exhibitions and Presentations
“Ghosts”
Hangar Centre for Artistic Research, Lisbon, Portugal
22 October - 27 November
“Leo Asemota | The Avatara Suite”
Tafeta + Partners, London
7 October - 3 November
Publications
Work in focus Book 3: After Walter: A transmission in 2 acts Text by Monica Ross and Leo Asemota.
i.d.e./ Made at EoTLA
Public Program
Royal Benin and 21st century Britain
British Museum, Thursday 1 October
Artists’ Talk, Centre for Contemporary Art, Lagos Saturday 21 February
Articles and Reviews
The Guardian newspaper, Nigeria Asemota’s The Ens Project Loud in Lagos Lucky Orioha
2014
Exhibitions and Presentations
“Transfigurations: Curatorial and Artistic Research in an Age of Migrations” MACBA
Publications
Transfigurations: Curatorial and Artistic Research in an Age of Migrations' (Royal College of Art)
Leo Asemota | Sash of Fulfilment. e-Book for iPad.
i.d.e / Made at EoTLA
Public Program
Transfigurations: Performance, film screenings and lectures with an introduction by curator Paul Goodwin, Museu d’Art Contemporani du Barcelona (MACBA)
20 June
Articles and Reviews
The Coming of Age of African Fashion - 21st Century Enterprise (pp 27) Chris Spring in “Fashion Africa”, Jacqueline Shaw, Jacaranda Books
2013
Exhibitions and Presentations
“Leo Asemota | Sash of Fulfillment”
The Contemporary Rooms at EoTLA, London
25 October - 14 December
“Leo Asemota | Sash of Fulfillment”
Performance
The British Museum
Thursday 24 October
“From the Artists’ Book Collection” Stuart Hall Library at Rivington Place
Public Program
Sash of Fulfilment Leo Asemota in conversation with Chris Spring; The British Museum, Stevenson Lecture Theatre
24 October
Articles and Reviews
Business Day newspaper ‘African Art and Empire’ Kaye Whiteman
Curatorial and Artistic Research in an Age of Migrations Victoria Walsh (pp 32-33) “Let the Museum Speak” MeLa Mid-Term Seminar
2012
Exhibitions and Presentations
“Leo Asemota: Count Off for Eo ipso”
Performance
The Tanks, Tate Modern
Thursday 23 August
Public Program
Benjamin, Benin and Britain: A Diamond Jubilee Discussion The British Museum Stevenson Lecture Theatre
23 November
Inside/Outside: Materialising the Social. Tate Modern
21 July
Articles and Reviews
Textiles and Contemporary African art (pp 53-73) Chris Spring “Africa Textiles Today” British Museum Press
2011
Exhibitions and Presentations
“Leo Asemota | First Principles”, New Art Exchange, Nottingham
16 September – 19 November
Public Program
The Ens Project Dialogues Part 3: Leo Asemota in conversation with Paul Goodwin New Art Exchange, Nottingham
Histories and Materialities: The Art of Leo Asemota Dr Charles Gore New Art Exchange, Nottingham
A Document on The Ens Project: Screening New Art Exchange, Nottingham
Articles and Reviews
Savvy Journal Berlin 3rd Edition 2012 Leo Asemota The Ens Project’s First Principles Simon Raven
a-n magazine February 2012 Leo Asemota: The Ens Project's First Principles at New Art Exchange Nottingham Charlotte A Morgan
Impact magazine, November 2011 The Ens Project's First Principles by Leo Asemota at New Art Exchange Nottingham, Jennifer Flanagan
2010
Exhibitions and Presentations
“Leo Asemota | The Prime Mover’s will on the Architect”. Contemporary Rooms at EoTLA
25 September 2010 – 19 February 2011
“Leo Asemota | The Handmaiden; Amsterdam S.E.”. Centrum Beeldende Kunst Zuidoost, Amsterdam
5 June – 19 August
“Leo Asemota | The Handmaiden; Liverpool”. Metal at Edge Hill Station, Liverpool
24 February – 20 March
“Do I Have To Paint You A Picture?” The Morgan Arcade Cardiff, Wales
19 February – 02 April
Public Program
Making the Cut 1 – Leo Asemota Iniva London
11 October
A Theory of “The Ens Project” Liverpool John Moores University
1 – 2 March
The Handmaiden at Edge Hill station. Wexley Community College, Liverpool
1 March
Upfront: BBC Radio Merseyside
27 February
Culturepool: Leo Asemota & The Handmaiden, Metal at Edge Hill station
27 February
Liverpool and the Black Atlantic: Meet the Artists Kuumba Imani Centre Liverpool
28 January
Articles and Reviews
African Connections: Collecting the Contemporary at The British Museum by Chris Spring (pp. 182-201) in “A Fateful Journey: Africa in the works of El Anatsui” (ed.) Y. Kawaguchi, National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka.
Monumentalism: An Introduction by Jelle Bouwhuis and Margriet Schavemaker (pp 64-88) in “Monumentalism – History, National Identity and Contemporary Art”; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam / Nai Publishers
Collecting the Core at the Margins: Representing
Africa at the British Museum by Chris Spring in “From The Margins to the Core” V&A Museum
2009
Exhibitions and Presentations
“Leo Asemota | ens memoralis - Testimony”. Book Art Bookshop, London
5 – 20 June 2009
“Africa Reflected on Video”. Netherlands Media Art Institute
12 – 16 October
“One’s History is Another’s Misery” Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam
26 July – 6 September
“Living Landscapes” Aberystwyth University, Wales
18 – 21 June
“One’s History is Another’s Misery”. Autocenter Berlin, 13 June – 17 July
Public Program
Politics of Artistic Practice University of Warwick
19 January
Articles and Reviews
Brass, Bronze and Gold: Royal Art and Kingship in Western Africa (pp 64 – 79) African Art in Detail. Christopher Spring. The British Museum Press / Harvard University Press
ArtNEWS August 2009 review of “One’s History is Another’s Misery” at SMBA
NRC Handelsblad newspaper, The Netherlands, August 14 Lelijk ding; review of “One’s History is Another’s Misery” at SMBA. Maria Barnas.
de Volkskrant newspaper, Netherlands, August 11 Problematische geschiedenis, review of “One’s History is Another’s Misery” at SMBA. Lennard Dost. University of West England Book Arts Magazine, Issue 48 Leo Asemota: Testimony Sarah Bowden,
2008
Exhibitions and Presentations
“Leo Asemota | The longMarch of Displacement”
(performance).
Victoria Embankment and St. Paul’s Cathedral, London
Thursday 25 September
“Emerging Discourses Part II: Performance and Mimicry”. Bodhi Art, New York
25 July – 15 August
“Leo Asemota | ens memoralis” (performance).
National Portrait Gallery, London
Thursday 26 June
Public Program
On Practice School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
2007
Exhibitions and Presentations
“Leo Asemota | A Circle in the (w)Hole”. Exit Gallery at Claire de Rouen Books
30 May – 30 June
“Leo Asemota | After Walter: A transmission in two acts” (performance).
Resonance 104.4FM
19 January
“Epilogue”. A Kilimanjaro and EoTLA project at Zoo Art Fair October
Publications
Epilogue. Kilimanjaro & EoTLA
Leo Asemota | A Circle In The (w)Hole. Essay by Dr Charles Gore. EotLA
Leo Asemota | After Walter: Act I. EoTLA
Public Program
Relations and in reference: Benin commemorative brass heads. The British Museum
Articles and Reviews
PLUK magazine, Issue 34, Autumn 2007, Ten Top Photo books, “Leo Asemota: A Circle in The (w)Hole”
Memory-Making in Art, Ritual and Performance of Benin, Charles Gore, International Symposium 9 -10 May, 2007; “Benin - Kings and Rituals, Court Arts from Nigeria”, Museum für Völkerkunde Wien, Austria.
2006
Exhibitions and Presentations
“Leo Asemota | Misfortune’s Wealth”. Contemporary Rooms at EoTLA London
01 November 2006 – 20 January 2007
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