Defining Africa today means being able to recount it. In an equilibrium between Occidentalism and Africanism, post-colonialism and migration, contemporary African art in reality poses essential, political, economic, religious and gender questions that affect the future of one of the more complex continents.
Curated by Adelina von Fürstenberg – a pioneer broadening the understanding of contemporary art – the exhibition celebrates those who embody their African roots. Made up of five parts; “After Independence, Identity Introspection, Generation Africa, The Body and the Politics of Distance” visitors will gain an understanding of the universal beauty of sub-Saharan Africa in a contemporary gaze, without hiding the explicit ambiguity of the entire plot.
The exhibition AFRICA. Telling a world opened 27 June to end 11 September 2017. Milan’s PAC (Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea) continues its exploration of the continents following the route of art, with a selection of artists and narratives that not only live and entrench their African roots in the world, but who and which also experience its Diaspora. Retracing their diversity, the exhibition is giving visitors an understanding of the universality of the contemporary Africa scene south of the Sahara, unveiling the immediate and growing spirit,without hiding the violence and matching immediacy of the worlds that make it up.
33 artists who embody the multiplicity of their social contexts today, offer visitors visual and narrative works through a quadruple reading of contemporary art in Africa south of the Sahara: from the After Independence artists, masters of their art and very closely tied to their cultural universe, through the theme of Identity Introspection that highlights a number of engagé artists, until a Generation Africa which affirms its active participation in the world and, finally, the path of contemporary African artists who deal with the category of The Body and The Politics of Distance.
Participating artists include Nigeria’s own J.D. Okhai Ojeikere and Yinka Shonibare MBE. Others are Georges Adéagbo (Benin); Nathalie Anguezomo Mba Bikoro (Gabon); Malala Andrialavidrazana (Madagascar); Omar Ba (Senegal); Frédéric Bruly Bouabré (Ivory Coast); Kudzanai Chiurai (Zimbabwe); Gabrielle Goliath (South Africa); Romuald Hazoumé (Benin); Anne Historical (South Africa); Pieter Hugo (South Africa); Seydou Keïta (Mali); Donna Kukama (South Africa); Ato Malinda /Alex Mawimbi (Kenya); Abu Bakarr Mansaray (Sierra Leone); Senzeni Marasela (South Africa); Zanele Muholi (South Africa); ; Idrissa Ouédraogo (Burkina Faso); Richard Onyango (Kenya); Tracey Rose (South Africa); Chéri Samba (Congo); Buhlebezwe Siwani (South Africa); Berni Searle (South Africa);; Malick Sidibé (Mali); Abdelrahmane Sissako (Mauritania); Barthélémy Toguo (Cameroun); Billie Zangewa (Malawi).
Exhibition produced by Comune di Milano – Cultura, PAC Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, Silvana Editoriale.
Source: http://www.pacmilano.it
