British curator, writer and broadcaster Ekow Eshun has been at the forefront of international culture for several decades. But more recently, he has become something of a household name, having worked on some of the most talked-about exhibitions over the past few years.

In 2022, his show “In the Black Fantastic” at the Hayward Gallery brought 11 contemporary artists of the African diaspora together who have a shared interest in mythology, making it the first U.K. exhibition dedicated to Black artists who use the fantastical as part of their practice. Two years later, his ongoing projects across the globe are countless. The touring show “The Time is Always Now,” which debuted at the National Portrait Gallery, explores the Black figure in Western art history through some of the biggest names in contemporary art today. “Keeping Time” with Gallery 1957 in Accra brings together international and Ghana-based artists. And his creative non-fiction book, “The Strangers,” explores the lives of five prominent Black men. 

Here, he looks back at 2024 and what he expects from the year ahead.

Installation view, “The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure” at The Philadelphia Museum of Art. Photo Sarah Croop.

What moment or project stands out as a personal highlight of 2024?

There has been a range of things. Exhibition-wise, I have recently had a show in Ghana with Gallery 1957 called “Keeping Time”, another in Shanghai at Fotografiska called “Marvellous Realism“, and a project with Es Devlin in London called “Congregation”. However, the one that’s been with me the most is “The Time Is Always Now”, which is currently in Philadelphia. It opened earlier this year at the National Portrait Gallery, then went to The Box in Plymouth, and after [this iteration], it will be in North Carolina. I released my book as well, which—alongside “The Time Is Always Now” —has also been five years in the making.

What was the best show you saw in London in 2024?

Hew Locke’s show at the British Museum. I love how Hew takes on history and Britain’s colonial presence in the world. He interrogates with a certain amount of humour and irony but also looks at colonialism’s capacity for violence and chaos in the world unsparingly. I thought that doing all of that within the physical context of the British Museum was masterly.

How about abroad?

I liked John Akomfrah’s exhibition at the Venice Biennale. I thought John did something with the British Pavilion that I’d never seen before, reimagining that space with grandeur, intimacy, and such scale of ambition. Also, having just returned from Philadelphia, I saw the Alvin Ailey show, “Edges of Ailey”, at the The Whitney in New York.

What are you looking forward to most in 2025?

There are two things. My book, “The Strangers,” has come out in the U.K. already, but the U.S. publication of it is next May with Harper Collins, which I’m very excited about. Also, I have a show opening at the Baltimore Museum of Art, a group show on colonialism and climate change called “Black Earth Rising”, which I’m very excited about, too.

John Akomfrah, “Listening All Night To The Rain,” British Pavilion, 60th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, 2024. Photo: Jack Hems.

If you could see one change in the art world next year, what would it be?

I feel an enormous privilege to hear the voices of artists, but when you’re working on a show, that sometimes comes quite late in the process. I’m interested in different ways of engaging with not just what artists do, but how they think.

One of the things I like to place particular emphasis on is talking with them. I want to think about how art spaces can be sites for experience and interrogation, how artworks in themselves or exhibitions can be the starting point, not the endpoint, for an experience that allows us to think and feel more deeply about what is involved within those works.

What is the one piece of advice you would give yourself at this time last year?

I would say that “not knowing is okay.” I get anxious before the opening of a show or publication of a book because I’m trying to anticipate how it might be read, experienced or critiqued. But in the end, the only answer you have is not even necessarily to anticipate the questions that might come, but to go deeper into the richness of the work.

Who is the art professional you have your eye on for 2025, and why?

The artist Julianknxx. I loved his show,  “Chorus in Rememory of Flight”, at the Barbican. We’re also working on a film together right now, and I’m looking forward to further work of his. He’s an artist who has an exceptional ability to speak with grace, nuance and depth, to think historically, and to conjure moments of really extraordinary beauty. He only had his first institutional show last year at the Barbican, so I feel there’s more he has to give to the world.

“The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure” is at The Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19130, through February 9 2025.