EPISODE · Feb 27, 2026 · 40 MIN
EP 4 - “How Do You Learn the Movements That Steal Yourself to Freedom?” A conversation on museums and migration with curator Abigail Celis and artist Cosmo Whyte
from Migrant Ethnographies · host Migrant Ethnographies
Katya Korableva speaks with curator Abigail E. Celis and artist Cosmo Whyte about The Catalog of Speculative Translations, Act II: Fugitivities; an exhibition presented at UdeM Gallery. The conversation centers on African material cultures displaced through colonialism and now held in European museums. Drawing on their collaborative research-creation practice, Celis and Whyte examine how objects move across institutions and histories, and how museums translate, fix, or obscure their meanings. About the Guests:Abigail E. Celis is a curator and scholar working in decolonial art history and museum studies. Her research examines migration, race, and the ethics of exhibition, with a focus on how museums produce knowledge through objects and their movement across borders.Cosmo Whyte is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice spans drawing, installation, and sculpture. His work engages migration, Black diaspora, and memory, often exploring fugitivity and opacity as responses to colonial and archival capture.About the Host:Katya Korableva is a social researcher and curator working across the social sciences and the arts. She is a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Humanities at Concordia University, with her research focusing on memory, critical migration studies, and the ethics of representing conflict-induced migration.Podcast Theme Music:Many thanks to Moneka Arabic Jazz and Lulaworld Records for allowing us to use the song Mail Shougle as our podcasttheme music. Share your comments:We’d love to hear from you! Share your comments, ideas, or proposals at [email protected]Special thanks to Concordia University andthe IRMS:Special thanks to the Institute for Research on Migration and Society (IRMS) for hosting the podcast, to the Ethnography Lab for studio access, and to the Concordia University Faculty Research Development Program (FRDP) for funding this project.
What this episode covers
Katya Korableva speaks with curator Abigail E. Celis and artist Cosmo Whyte about The Catalog of Speculative Translations, Act II: Fugitivities; an exhibition presented at UdeM Gallery. The conversation centers on African material cultures displaced through colonialism and now held in European museums. Drawing on their collaborative research-creation practice, Celis and Whyte examine how objects move across institutions and histories, and how museums translate, fix, or obscure their meanings. About the Guests:Abigail E. Celis is a curator and scholar working in decolonial art history and museum studies. Her research examines migration, race, and the ethics of exhibition, with a focus on how museums produce knowledge through objects and their movement across borders.Cosmo Whyte is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice spans drawing, installation, and sculpture. His work engages migration, Black diaspora, and memory, often exploring fugitivity and opacity as responses to colonial and archival capture.About the Host:Katya Korableva is a social researcher and curator working across the social sciences and the arts. She is a PhD candidate in Interdisciplinary Humanities at Concordia University, with her research focusing on memory, critical migration studies, and the ethics of representing conflict-induced migration.Podcast Theme Music:Many thanks to Moneka Arabic Jazz and Lulaworld Records for allowing us to use the song Mail Shougle as our podcasttheme music. Share your comments:We’d love to hear from you! Share your comments, ideas, or proposals at [email protected]Special thanks to Concordia University andthe IRMS:Special thanks to the Institute for Research on Migration and Society (IRMS) for hosting the podcast, to the Ethnography Lab for studio access, and to the Concordia University Faculty Research Development Program (FRDP) for funding this project.
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EP 4 - “How Do You Learn the Movements That Steal Yourself to Freedom?” A conversation on museums and migration with curator Abigail Celis and artist Cosmo Whyte
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