AFRICA 2.0 > IS THERE A 'CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART'?

PAINTING | SCULPTURE | PHOTOGRAPHY | VIDEO | INSTALLATION

FEATURING:

GEORGE 'AFEDZI' HUGHES
ALMIGHTY GOD
OWUSU-ANKOMAH
BODO PAMBU
CHÉRI CHERIN
SOLY CISSÉ
JORGE DIAS
LUCFOSTHER DIOP
MOURAD GHARRACH
GEORGE LILANGA
FRANCK LUNDANGI
ESTHER MAHLANGU
MISHECK MASAMVU
MOKE
RICHARD ONYANGO
CHÉRI SAMBA
CYPRIEN TOKOUDAGBA
DOMINIQUE ZINKPÉ

The expression '2.0', although initially circumscribed to the world of computer science, is used widely these days as a synonym for evolution. '2.0' refers to something that has evolved from a previous 'version' (1.0).

Most people still associate the expression 'African Art' to 'traditional' forms, the so-called (wrongly) 'primitive' or 'tribal' art: objects used in worship and ancestral rituals that bring to mind mysticism and spirituality. 'African Art' normally means 'past'.

But things in Africa have changed a lot in the meantime…

In the last 20 years there has been a dramatic change in the visibility of African artists.

The seminal exhibition "Magiciens de la Terre" organized by the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 1989, although not the first, is unanimously cited has the 'turning point' in the way non-western contemporary art is received by the western world.

In the 90's, through the presence in major international exhibitions in Europe and the United States, and subsequent visibility in art fairs and contemporary art biennales all over the world, African artists have finally gained some space.