“I am the 2021-2022 Curatorial Fellow at The Kitchen,” says Fekete of the legendary arts space. “But I very much see myself as an independent curator, having worked with many art and community spaces.” She rattles off a list of cultural mainstays: Knockdown Center, CultureHub, BOMB Magazine, Ethel’s Club, On Air Fest, 8 Ball Community, Playground Youth and POWRPLNT, attesting a unique breadth of focus. As for her role at The Kitchen (under fellow Cultured Young Curator Legacy Russell’s helm), Fekete cites the organization’s historic 19th Street building’s expansion and reconstruction this summer as a source of inspiration. “It is a transformative and chameleon-like space that has the capability to transform with every new project and energy that an artist brings in,” she says.
Fekete recently organized—alongside The Kitchen’s senior curator Lumi Tan—the solo exhibition “Where there’s love overflowing” of New York-based, multi-media artist E. Jane, who performs as the persona Mhysa and probes the traditional boundaries of gender, race and digital identity. “The exhibition is very much a celebration of the Black femme diva, an ode to love and the legacy of Black femme musicality throughout history,” says Fekete. “My hope is to curate through an educational lens, and to make sure the exhibition, performance, lecture, workshop—or whatever kind of program—feels accessible, affordable, intersectional, intergenerational and is able to reach lots of people in and outside the art world.” A project of particular pride is also Rhea Dillon’s "Video Viewing Room," a presentation Fekete curated for The Kitchen as part of a larger series that makes recent video works and archival recordings available online.
“Dillon presents her brilliant video (Working Title) Browning 2025, an audiovisual rumination on the word and color: brown,” describes Fekete. “Collaging together recordings of poetic response by the artist’s friends and collaborators—Dachi Cole, Yves B. Golden, John Glacier, Ra/Malika Imhotep, Kandis Williams, Sydney Vernon, Mandy Harris Williams and TWEAKS—the work gestures towards the imperative that words are central to any effort to make sense of the world around us.”
