Sela Mariama

Sela Mariama is a curator, art historian, researcher, archivist, and multimedia artist based in Los Angeles, California. Her practice is foundationally informed by Afro-Indigenous mythologies and the histofuturist framework of late writer and theorist, Octavia Butler. Butler stated this figure as “one who extrapolates from the human and technological past & present by researching, archiving, and then working over research materials to speculate about possible futures that might materialize on their foundations.” Through the archival investigation of visual and theoretical narratives, Sela seeks to confront the psycho–social–spiritual effect of a culture obsessed with commodified comfort at the expense of continued global imperialism and neo-colonization. Sela holds a B.A. in Health, Culture, & Ecology from Mills College and an M.A. in Arts Politics from New York University Tisch, School of the Arts. She is currently a researcher for the forthcoming exhibition Black Queer California: Art & Politics with ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California Libraries, partnered with the California African American Museum (CAAM). In May 2022, Sela joined the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) as a Curatorial Assistant in the Curatorial department.

What drew you to the MA in Arts Politics?

I found out about the program through my friend, Kimiyo Bremer, who graduated from the 2020 cohort last year. Throughout the program she continuously stated how amazing the program would be for someone like me- a highly politically charged human and artist with endless interests and no clear direction at the time!

 website: selamariama.com