As part of the student-led New Public Forum series, Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa shares some unfolding thoughts on the works of Zoe Leonard (To the River/Al Río) and The Cooper Union School of Art Associate Professor Lucy Raven (Dam Breach LIC and Depositions). 

Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa (b. 1980, UK/Uganda) is an artist, writer, and editor. His recent publications include INDEX2025 (Roma, 2025), “ECHO—LOCATION” (e-flux Journal #153), Indeterminacy: Thoughts on Time, the Image, and Race(ism), co-written with David Campany (MACK, 2022); Dark Mirrors (MACK, 2021); and the photographic monograph Hiding in Plain Sight, co-authored with Ben Alper (Harun Farocki Institute, 2020). His solo exhibition, Scene at Eastman (George Eastman Museum, 2024-5) closed in Spring 2025, and is the subject of an eponymous short film (directed by Adam Golfer, 2025).

New Public Forum is a series of student-led lectures and demonstrations held at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, aimed at instituting public dialogue between various fields as they evolve and adapt to a changing world. With actions and words, we attempt to rattle or dismount the stability of entrenched systems and constructs, speculating on evolving approaches to creative and technical disciplines. The series will highlight critical practices that synthesize historical and current developments with an emphasis on speculation over retrospective preoccupation. The program constitutes a public forum for exchange, towards new critical approaches across fields and geographies.