INHABIT // Artist-in-Residence
The INHABIT artist-in-residence program of the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics invites artists from various disciplines to collaborate with our team of scientists and researchers. The integration of artistic thinking and knowledge as reflective practices in their own right is an important dimension of the institute’s mission.
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For this the presence of art and the inspiration and challenge of artistic practice are essential. The interaction between the different perspectives creates a mutually productive space for both artists and scientists to work in.
For this reason, INHABIT invites artists to spend three months creating new work, or further developing an existing project, in a scientific research environment. Openness to the mission of the institute and interest and readiness to work together with individual researchers or research groups are naturally preconditions. During the residency, the institute will provide space, resources, and facilities for productive experimentation, dialogue, and collaboration. Work developed during the residency will be presented in cooperation with various local arts institutions in the form of an exhibition, performance, concert, or other mode of presentation, and complemented by discursive formats.
![[Translate to English:] Newsbild BONES von Fabrice Mazliah](/fileadmin/_processed_/5/b/csm_NEWS-251007-Walkenhorst-Fabrice-Mousonturm-BONES-ohne-credits_8e88c0c6bb.jpg "[Translate to English:] Newsbild BONES von Fabrice Mazliah")
Events
Museum Angewandte Kunst, Frankfurt am Main
Museum Angewandte Kunst, Schaumainkai 17, 60594 Frankfurt/Main
INHABIT #14 // Baff Akoto
March - June 2026
At the intersection of moving image, sound, technology, and cultural memory, Baff Akoto explores questions of identity, resilience, and collective futures through a perspective shaped by African and diasporic narratives. His practice weaves together decolonial thought, speculative storytelling, and community-driven aesthetics, combining historical research, immersive technologies, and experimental formats to challenge dominant narratives and imagine new possibilities.
During his residency, he will develop a film and sound installation that investigates the cultural and rhythmic connections between West African Griot traditions and Andalusian Flamenco. The project traces emotional and musical parallels such as between the Griot’s lament and the Cante Jondo of Flamenco through layered soundscapes, archival imagery, and embodied performance elements. By juxtaposing instruments like the kora, balafon, cajón, and flamenco guitar, the installation examines how rhythm, emotion, and memory are transmitted across cultures. In dialogue with research at the Max Planck Institute on music, emotion, rhythm perception, and embodied aesthetics, this project offers a poetic yet rigorous exploration of shared cultural memory and sonic heritage.
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Biographie
Baff Akoto’s conceptual practice spans installation, immersive technologies, performance, printmaking, still and moving images.
His work extends beyond the art world, engaging with our increasingly digital behaviors and speculative futures, while fostering localized, public participation to question our shared histories. More recently, Akoto has been investigating the artistic potential of new technologies and digital media, with the hope that the digital revolution does not replicate the prejudices, exclusions, and inequalities already embedded in our industrial and colonial eras.
He was awarded the Aesthetica Art Prize for his film LEAVE THE EDGES, which also won the Grand Prix at the 13th Rencontres de Bamako, following its presentation at the London Open Triennale at Whitechapel Gallery. Akoto was also the recipient of the inaugural BFI x CHANEL Filmmaker Award, selected by a jury including Tilda Swinton and Edward Enninful.
Contact
Jurys
The selection of artists for the residency at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics is made by diverse juries composed of researchers from the institute’s various departments, as well as distinguished experts from the fields of visual arts, music, and performing arts. The composition of the jury changes with each edition.