What does it mean to be an art critic today, in a world where attention is shrinking and art is increasingly filtered through the scroll?

Writer and curator Antwaun Sargent has spent the past 15 years championing and critically engaging Black artists, producing vital writing that has reshaped how contemporary art is understood and valued. In this episode, Sargent reflects on the shifting role of the art critic in a world shaped by algorithms, attention economies, and new global audiences. In conversation with Refiloe Mpakanyane, Sargent speaks candidly about the expansion of the critic’s role, the rise of new cultural voices outside institutions, the power and problem of visibility, and why the work of sustaining artistic ecosystems goes far beyond the market.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How the role of the art critic has expanded beyond traditional media
• The impact of social platforms on the way we experience and talk about art
• The rise of new, trusted cultural voices outside institutional networks
• Why visibility matters for artistic recognition and critical engagement
• The evolution of Black representation in galleries and museums globally
• The difference between selling art and sustaining artistic practice
• What it means to build ecosystems, not just audiences
• How collectors, curators and writers shape cultural legacy

Chapter 3 of the Latitudes Podcast explores Art Criticism in the Age of the Algorithm.

This chapter brings together writers, critics, and art professionals to examine the evolving landscape of contemporary art criticism and its new means of communication. Art writers have long played a pivotal role in steering conversations within the art world, but as their platforms and methods of communication shift, so too does the depth and scope of their influence.

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Supported by Business and Arts South Africa (BASA)

Co-curated by Art School Africa

Hosted by Refiloe Mpakanyane