Toyin Ojih Odutola in conversation with Yaa Gyasi and Texas Isaiah

Floor 3, Theater

In her exhibition To Wander Determined, Toyin Ojih Odutola presents an interconnected series of fictional portraits, chronicling the lives of two aristocratic Nigerian families. For this program, Ojih Odutola invites novelist Yaa Gyasi and visual narrator Texas Isaiah to discuss their respective practices as artists and their overlapping and intersecting interests, from narrative and portraiture to migration and dislocation. The conversation is moderated by Rujeko Hockley, Assistant Curator.

Yaa Gyasi was born in Ghana and raised in Huntsville, Alabama. Her debut novel Homegoing received the National Book Critic's Circle's John Leonard Award for Best First Book. She lives in New York City.

Texas Isaiah is a visual narrator based in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, and New York City. His work documents gender, race, and sexuality through topophilia, a strong sense of place that is connected to people’s lived poetics. He is interested in what it means to be loved and seen when you have your photograph taken.

This event has reached ticketing capacity but will be live-streamed on Facebook. A limited number of standby tickets may be available at the admissions desk on a first-come, first-served basis. The standby line will open one hour prior to the program’s start time.

The Susan and John Hess Family Theater is equipped with an induction loop and infrared assistive listening system. Accessible seating is available. If you have questions about accessibility, or requests for accommodations, please email accessfeedback@whitney.org or call (212) 671-1823 (relay calls welcome). Learn more about access services.