Africa Africans - Contemporary Art African - Until 30.08.15

 

The Museu Afro Brazil promotes from the 25th of May, International Day of Africa, the largest exhibition of contemporary African art ever held in our country. With programming that includes installations, paintings, videos, sculptures, fashion and a meeting for discussions with the artists, the Africans Africa project, which is sponsored by Banco Itaú and Odebrecht, presents an overview of recent visual creation on the continent through works of artists from various African countries. Admission is free and open to all ages. 

 

The exhibition features about 100 works from more than 20 artists in various media and languages, as well as other works of African art belonging to the museum's collection and the special collection of Emanoel Araujo, curatorial director of the museum. 

 

The exhibition focuses on the creation of African artists, born and living on the continent or elsewhere, as well as African origin of artists who, despite having been born outside of Africa, dialogue with the plurality of aesthetic and social experiences present in different regions of the continent.

 

In Brazil, the threads that bind us to the mainland and that for a long time were forgotten and hidden by the characteristic cordial racism in Brazilian society urge us to seek an Africa that is often created by the imagination. The image of Africa conveyed by the Brazilian media is often miserable or you dreamed and idealized, that cultural practices originate in an Africa that no longer corresponds to the current.

 

The first stage of Africa Africans happened last April 17, part of the calendar of the 39th edition of the São Paulo Fashion Week (Fashion Week), where the museum was honored to receive the shows Africa Africans Fashion and introduced the five African designers work : Palesa Mokubung (South Africa); Amaka "Maki" Osakwe (Nigeria); Jamil Walji '(Kenya); Xuly Bet (Mali) and Imane Ayissi (Cameroon). The fashion show took place in the central space of the museum and was curated by Nigerian Andy Okoroafor recognized editor and art director, music videos and fashion in Paris, France.

 

One of the most prominent works of the Africa Africans will be the colossal "The British Library," the Nigerian-British artist Yinka Shonibare MBE. Born in London in 1962, Shonibare was created in Nigeria and returned to the English capital to study Arts, ushering in his artistic career. His installation consists of 6,225 colorful books shielded by tissues dutch wax - known as 'African fabrics' but manufactured in the Netherlands to use techniques inspired by the ancient art of Indonesian batik. Use of this material is a registered trademark of the artist. Shonibare debate in this workforce issues that are guys like colonialism, postcolonialism and hybrid and explores the impact of immigration on all aspects of British culture, considering the notions of territory and place, cultural identity, displacement and refuge. The work also uses multimedia features, like iPads.

 

Also with confirmed presence is "Skylines" by El Anatsui, Ghanaian living in Nigeria. Born in 1944, he is considered the most important African artist today, with great prestige in Europe and the United States and was recently awarded, on May 9, 2015, with a Golden Lion at the Venice Art Biennale.

His works are in public collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; Museum of Modern Art in New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Indianapolis Museum of Art; British Museum in London; and Centre Pompidou in Paris, among other institutions.

 

Many of sculptures of El Anatsui have changeable shapes and are designed to be free and flexible so that they adapt visually for each installation. When working with wood, clay, metal and more recently, metal caps of liquor bottles, Anatsui breaks with the traditional membership of the sculpture to fixed forms, although visually reference to the history of abstraction in European and African art. 

 

Another highlight is the work "Cloud Earth Twist", the Nigerian Bright Ugochukwu Eke. The installation coming to Africa Africans have autobiographical inspiration. After suffering a skin infection caused by a acid rain, Eke developed the work that consists of thousands of plastic bags filled with acidified water. 

 

The work Eke has been exposed in cities like Durban, Lagos, London, New York and Verona, among others. Bright Eke creates a socially oriented art, exploring the ways in which people interact with their environment. Using water as a theme and a half, he challenges the viewer to think about this precious resource, politically, ethically and ecologically.

 

MEET THE ARTISTS - The Museu Afro Brazil will hold still, on 26 May, an International Meeting on the exhibition theme, bringing the artists invited to a debate with the public about its production and issues raised by the exhibition and the participants.

 

It will also be producing a trilingual catalog (Portuguese-English-French) about the exhibition, the fashion shows and the seminar.

 

The museum is opened from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm Extending until 6pm. On the last Tuesday of each month, the museum is opened until 9pm.