L'Africa nei loro occhi
Past exhibition
"Africa in Their Eyes" which illustrates African cultural universes as seen and elaborated from the experience of the African artist grappling with contemporaneity and globalization.
When it comes to African art there is a general tendency to standardize it into a unicum way of making art disregarding the vastness and diversity of styles and artistic techniques specific to each country. The Kyo Noir Gallery presents the exhibition "Africa in Their Eyes" which illustrates African cultural universes as seen and elaborated from the experience of the African artist grappling with contemporaneity and globalization. Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the other African states involved in the project animate a cross-cultural confrontation while maintaining common roots and sharing the same problems that plague them.
Contemporary African art entered the international scene with the exhibition Magiciens de la Terre an exhibition organized at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris in 1989 and curated by Jean-Hubert Martin. The exhibition brought contemporary African art into the limelight for the first time, equated in glamour and importance with the other four continents involved in the project. From this burst of energy, a real cultural debate about African art developed, stimulating a quest for knowledge about contemporary artists residing in Africa, an identity and autonomy of thought that profoundly enriched the international art scene.
The escalation of success has led this artistic reality to be known and admired in the world's most prestigious museum and exhibition spaces including the Tate Gallery in London, the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Venice Biennale and Documenta in Kassel.
The genius loci of the pure African artist crosses the continent, the choice falls scrupulously on artists who have had no Western contamination and who look at their country with the authenticity of the pure African eye.
The vastness of the Dark Continent embraces diverse cultures, traditions, and artistic languages, a cross-cultural comparison that outlines a unique artistic identity attentive to society and the needs of populations battered by hunger war and famine.
Despite great international successes and the acquisition of fame and wealth artists such as Cheri Cherin, Pierre Bodo, Almighty God, Bruce Onobrakpeya, have preferred to remain living in their homeland demonstrating a deep attachment to their cultural and identity roots.
"Africa in Their Eyes" is an exhibition of sub-Saharan African art featuring, eleven artists for six countries: Cheri Cherin, Pierre Bodo, Amani Bodo ,Jean Paul Mika Nsimba (Democratic Republic of the Congo); George Lilanga (Tanzania); Almighty God (Ghana); Bruce Onobrakpeya, Prince Twins Seven Seven, (Nigeria); Kivuthi Mbuno (Kenya); Ester Mahlangu , Churchill Songezile Madikida (South Africa), a carefully curated selection of paintings, sculptures and videos that will bring the general public into a typically "African" atmosphere.
