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At the core of his practice is an exploration into how material forms, from textiles and photographs to archives and the built and natural environment, register histories of movement, labor, and daring imagination. His research and creative writing seeks to engage these intertwined histories of art, craft, and cultural production across Africa and its diasporas, focusing on the material and political transformations of the 1960s and 70s and tracing the connections between the tactile and the historical.
In his scholarship, Max examines how artists and makers in Africa have used material practices to articulate new cultural and political imaginaries. His thesis at Princeton University, BLUEPRINTS, examined indigo textile traditions in Guinea, tracing their historical, economic, and aesthetic trajectories, and was awarded the Henry Richardson Labouisse 1926 Prize. His research and writing have been featured on Tender Photo and Artsy, and he has presented at the 19th Triennial Symposium on African Art in Chicago, George Washington University, and Princeton University.
As an extension of his research, Max has curated and contributed to exhibitions and curatorial projects in collaboration with museums, galleries, and art spaces across Africa, the Gulf, Europe, and North America. In 2025, he served on the jury for the Southnord UP NEXT Prize and curated the exhibition of the winning artist, Viola Nimuhamya, in Stockholm. He has assisted the curatorial team at Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain in Paris on a major exhibition set to open in October 2026. He is currently an ARAK Curatorial Fellow and is curating a forthcoming exhibition at the University of Johannesburg FADA Gallery, opening in February 2026.
In his own creative practice, Max contends with themes of memory and migration through writing, installation, and film. He has presented work in several group exhibitions, including Sound Images organized by Tina Campt, Exceed Your Vision curated by James Welling, and Livity curated by Azariah Jones. Max is a recipient of the Alex Adam ’07 Award from the Lewis Center for the Arts and was a founding member of the Black Arts Collective at Princeton University. This year, Max was named the inaugural recipient of the Southnord Residency Programme Award, in partnership with the Lusaka Contemporary Art Center.
Max 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.
Max lives between Conakry, Dakar, and Stockholm.