|
 The imposing work by Ivorian artist Koko Bi is meant to show the
strength of Africans outside their homelands. It also echoes a
central goal of the ambitious traveling show: to forge stronger
cultural understanding between Africans within Africa.
To this end, organizers amassed what they say is an
unprecedented number of works by around 30 prominent
contemporary African artists for the first pan-African art
exhibition to tour the continent.
"Too often, the trajectories of artists from Africa have been
built through exhibitions in Paris, Berlin, London, New York ...
," senior curator Yacouba Konate says in the introduction to the
show.
In contrast, this project launched in the Moroccan city of
Casablanca last June and will end in Marrakech later in 2020,
after touring south via Dakar, Abidjan, Lagos, Addis Ababa and
Cape Town.
The drive to redraw the map of contemporary African art comes as
African governments step up pressure on Western museums to
return artifacts seized during the colonial era. Around 90% of
Africa's cultural heritage is believed to be held outside the
continent.
The more than 100 artworks in "Lend Me Your Dream" are in a
range of media, from photography and collage to painting and
sculptures of wood, metal or salvaged materials.
[to top of second column] |
Some tackle issues including migration and the legacy of
colonialism. Burkinabe artist Ky Siriki's sculpture "Africa facing
its destiny" shows a white couple offering briefcases of loans to a
group of black people in exchange for raw commodities.
Other pieces are more abstract, such as Algerian Yazid Oulab's
untitled paintings of tendril-like black, white and gray lines or
the works by Senegal's Viye Diba that incorporate vivid scraps of
traditional wax cloth.
The artists' countries of origin are not mentioned in the
descriptions next to their work, as if encouraging the viewer to see
the art in a continental rather than national context.
Senegalese painter Soly Cisse, whose oils are also featured, said he
liked that the exhibition was adding works of art as the tour
progresses.
"It is a journey that we are doing together. That is the dream
actually," he said. "We are in an idea of seduction, of dialogue, of
communication, of sharing."
(Reporting by Christophe Van Der Perre and Alessandra Prentice;
Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Aaron Ross and Alison
Williams)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
