Max Diallo Jakobsen

Background

About Max Diallo Jakobsen

Max Diallo Jakobsen is a writer, historian, and researcher whose work is born out of investigations into material imaginaries. As a researcher, Max specializes in modern and contemporary African art, cultural and political history, with a particular emphasis on the independence eras of the 1960s and 70s. His thesis on the history of indigo textile traditions in Guinea, earned him the Henry Richardson Labouisse 1926 Prize. An early version of BLUEPRINTS was previewed at the 19th Triennial Symposium on African Art in Chicago in August 2024. Max is also a Tender Photo Editorial Fellow, where he researches and writes about African photography. As an extension of his research, Max has co-curated exhibitions in Princeton and New York, and is developping forthcoming exhibitions in Stockholm, Conakry, Johannesburg, and Paris. With the support of a Projects for Peace Grant, he co-led IMAG(IN)E: The Black Photographic Tradition through Flux, a film photography summer program in The Bronx that culminated in the group exhibition CYPHER. Max has also contributed writing for exhibitions, including Juan Arango Palacios at Galerie Revel and Samuel Nnorom at Art Antwerp. He holds an A.B. in History, African Studies & Visual Arts from Princeton University, where he served as President of the African Students Association and worked at the Institute for International and Regional Studies. Upon graduation, he received the Student Leader of the Year Award, African Vanguard Award, and the Spirit of Princeton Award.