Tuesday, 11 October 2011

The Hamon Foundation

The Harmon Foundation


Introduction
The contemporary art of Africa eludes generalized description. Artists have utilized various mediums, from oils to silk screening, and methods varying from brass casting by the ancient lost wax process to welding tin cans and other metals into sculpture. Traditionalists like Lamidi Fakeye produce sculpture and wood carvings based on classical African designs. A larger group works in the more modern styles of cubism, expressionism, and surrealism, while others seek a purely personal style. Many African artists were trained at European and American schools; others feel that they can achieve truly African expression only in their native surroundings. In Nigeria, for example, the national artistic tradition is strong and pervasive, even though obscured by the effects of European colonialism and Christian and Moslem religious zeal. In many other countries, traditional art very nearly succumbed under these forces. Thus a contemporary artwork is classified as African purely on the basis of the artist's nationality, rather than according to a peculiar style, subject, purpose, or medium.
The Harmon Foundation, a nonprofit, private foundation active from 1922 to 1967, helped foster an awareness of African art. Although its initial projects were funding parks and playgrounds and providing student loans, the foundation's flexible structure lent itself to support for a wide range of activities, including art. The foundation's interest in contemporary African art grew rather spontaneously. Its initial contact with Africa came through three series of motion pictures commissioned by the foundation in the 1930's on native life and tribal customs and the work of Christian missions in Africa. Although art was not selected as a focal point, the films depicted a culture built around folkcrafts; houses, furnishings, cooking utensils, and clothing were all handcrafted from local materials. Art, in a broad sense, had always been an integral part of African life. By the mid-1940s a few artists, aware of the films and the foundation's work with black American artists and anxious to create a market for their artworks in the United States, began sending their work to the New York offices. General interest was slow to develop. Connoisseurs of art seemed to see the African work not as serious, creative effort, but as sociological commentary on modern Africa. This view became particularly apparent in 1950, when the foundation had difficulty finding an established gallery for an exhibit by Ben Enwonwu, a leading Nigerian artist whose work had been successfully shown in England.
As a result of these early experiences, a strong relationship developed between the African artists, the foundation, and the American art community. More and more artists became aware of the foundation as a contact point and more frequently shipped artworks to the United States for exhibit and sale. The foundation became conscious of the substantial lack of appreciation for contemporary African art and of its own potential role in promoting intercultural understanding. By 1967 it was well established as a liaison between the artists and interested groups. With the cooperation of the Merton Simpson Gallery in New York and a few university galleries, it arranged several one-man shows and numerous general exhibits. After 6 years of research, it published "Africa's Contemporary Art and Artists", a descriptive compilation of artists in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the staff collected black and white prints and color slides of nearly 2,500 artworks. The Harmon Foundation's role had mushroomed from a latent, remote interest to leadership in the field of contemporary African art.
When the foundation ended its activities in 1967, it donated to the National Archives its entire collection of motion pictures, filmstrips, color slides, and black and white prints and negatives on a variety of subjects. The following selection, arranged alphabetically by name of artist, from the "Artworks by African Artists" series, is a representative sample of the work of some of the artists in the collection. An inclusive list of artists in this series is available upon request.
Many photographs from the Harmon Foundation are not listed in this leaflet. Separate inquiries about other photographs should be as specific as possible listing names, dates, places, events, and other details.


List of Works
* Asterisks following artwork titles indicate those which are available in color as well as black and white.
Abossolo, Martin (Cameroon)
  1. Dancer No. 1,* oil (1965).
  2. Pensive,* oil.
  3. Tom-Tom Player No.1,* oil (1965).
Abubakar, Fatma Abdullah (Tanzania)
  1. Egrets, oil.
  2. Feeding Monkeys,* oil.
Addo-Osafo, Emmanuel (Ghana)
  1. The Coming of the Ashanti Golden Stool, linocut?
  2. The Great Whip, print.
  3. The Orange Seller, linocut or woodcut.
Afolabi, Jacob (Nigeria)
  1. The Flash-Eyed Mother, linocut.
  2. Igbo and His People, linocut.
  3. Latanga with His Guard, linocut.
Ahmed, Taj S.M. (Sudan) 
  1. Interior with Sarcophagus,* lithograph (1962).
  2. Ottoman Khedive,* oil.
  3. Suzannah and the Elders,* oil.
Akeredolu, Justus, D. (Nigeria)
  1. Boy balancing on one hand,* thorn carving (sculpture carved from the thorn of the wild cotton tree).
  2. Bust of Nigerian girl,* thorn carving.
  3. Farmer cutting bush,* thorn carving.
  4. Hands holding six carvings, showing relative size,* thorn carving.
  5. Woman grinding pepper with baby on back,* thorn carving.
Akolo, Jimo B. (Nigeria)
  1. Dancing Figure,* color print with etching.
  2. Mural, Northern House of Assembly, Kano (?), Nigeria (1964).
  3. Pilate Washing Hands and Feet,* color print (1964).
Antubam, Kofi (Ghana)
  1. An Akan Mother and Child,* watercolor (1947).
  2. Woman Grinding Corn,* watercolor
Ballaa, Yousif Ahmed El (Sudan)
  1. Landscape at Khor Taqqat, oil (1958).
  2. Mabrouka Boardinghouse, oil (1955).
  3. Self-Portrait, oil (1959).
Bedawi, Hassan (Sudan)
  1. Eggz,* watercolor (1965).
  2. New York Landscape,* oil on board (1965).
  3. Tension,* watercolor (1962).
  4. Village,* watercolor.
Boghossian, Alexander (Skunder) (Ethiopia)
  1. Bird No. 1, welded metal sculpture.
  2. Cave-Bird and the Lantern,* watercolor (1964).
  3. Hanging Figure, welded metal sculpture.
  4. Heavenly Enlightenment,* gouache (1964).
  5. Illumination No. 1,* pen and ink (1964).
  6. Jeune Fille Assise* (young girl seated), oil (1961).
  7. Le Marche* (the market), oil (1960).
  8. Primogenetive Fissure,* watercolor (1964).
  9. Self-Portrait,* watercolor (1961)
  10. The Musician, watercolor (1961).
  11. The Umbrella,* gouache? (1961).
  12. Twilight Braves,* watercolor (1964).
Bokoko, Rene (Congo)
  1. Return from Fishing,* gouache?
  2. The Crocodile Hunt,* watercolor.
  3. The Forest, II,* gouache?
Bucknor, Arthur J. E. (Ghana)
  1. Chief from the North,* pastel (1966).
  2. Chieftaincy,* gouache (1959).
  3. Ghanaian Seascape,* gouache (1958).
Bulu, John Barbor (Liberia)
  1. Street of Thatched Huts,* oil.
Buluma, Mordecai (Uganda)
  1. Man with Bulldog in the Evening,* serigraph.
  2. The Abandoned Hut,* oil.
  3. The Market Place,* serigraph (1960).
Burney-Nichol, Miranda (Sierra Leone)
  1. Child Reading, oil.
  2. Child with food,* section of mural in Children's Hospital (1961).
  3. Steadfast, oil.
Chingono, Francis (Zimbabwe)
  1. From the River, carved wood panel.
  2. Madonna of the Divine, wood sculpture.
  3. Man Collecting Gold Dust, wood sculpture.
Chinouya, R. (Zimbabwe)
  1. Goats,* watercolor,
Clarke, Peter (South Africa)
  1. African Figure,* stencil print (1958).
  2. In the Wind, linocut (1961).
  3. Man with White Cock, linocut (1959).
  4. Workers in the Sun,* gouache (1960).
  5. That Evening Sun Goes Down,* gouache (1960).
Dartey E. Owusu (Ghana)
  1. A Cottage,* watercolor.
  2. A Game in Ghana,* oil.
  3. Compound Interest,* watercolor and pen and ink.
  4. I Am Tired,* oil.
  5. Mamudu* (the laborer), watercolor (1964).
  6. Snow,* watercolor (1964).
  7. The Queen,* watercolor.
  8. The Truant,* watercolor.
  9. Unity,* watercolor.
Desta, Gebra Kristos (Ethiopia)
  1. Hausfrau, oil (1961).
  2. Homecoming, oil (1961).
Enwaku, Washington (Uganda)
  1. Crested Cranes, lithograph.
Enwonwu, Ben (Nigeria)
  1. Dancing Figure, ebony sculpture.
  2. Dogari,* oil (1949).
  3. Father and Son,* fruitwood sculpture.
  4. Fulani Girl of Rupp,* oil(1949).
  5. Head of Hausa,* gouache(1958).
  6. Head of Yoruba Girl,* Indian wood sculpture.
  7. Man with Banana Leaf,* oakwood sculpture.
  8. Nkatamuo,* elmwood sculpture.
  9. Waterside Scene,* gouache (1950).
Fakeye, Lamidi (Nigeria)
  1. A Priest of Oro,* carved wood panel.
  2. Annunciation of the Angel to Mary, carved wood panel.
  3. God of Thunder,* wood sculpture.
Grillo, Yusuf Adebayo (Nigeria)
  1. Yoruba Bride,* oil on board.
Hadi, Hassan El (Sudan)
  1. Endeavor, ink and wash.
  2. Forms,* gouache.
Idah (Nigeria)
  1. Hunter with Animal on His Head,* wood sculpture.
  2. Medicine Man, carved wood panel.
  3. Woman As Warrior, carved wood panel.
Idehen, Festus Omo (Nigeria)
  1. Musician,* ebony sculpture.
Kalanzi, Yonansani (Uganda)
  1. The Artist, oil.
  2. The Beer Seller, oil.
Keita (Sierra Leone)
  1. Portrait or Mask,* oil on canvas board.
Khalil, Mohammed Omer (Sudan)
  1. Nude,* oil.
  2. Movimiento Verde,* oil.
  3. Reflections from the World's Fair, etching (1965).
  4. The Chalk Garden, etching (1965).
  5. Waiting on the Pier,* ink and watercolor.
Khumalo, Lazarus (Zimbabwe)
  1. Witch Doctor, soapstone sculpture.
Kofi, Vincent (Ghana)
  1. Awakening Africa, bronze sculpture.
  2. Crucifix, wood sculpture.
  3. Mother and Child, wood sculpture.
  4. Unknown Slave, cast metal sculpture.
Kotei, Amon (Ghana)
  1. Adei with Red Scarf,* oil (1960).
  2. Moments in Hell,* oil(1960).
Kyemwa, Anthony (Brother Anthony) (Uganda)
  1. Cormorant and Fish, wood sculpture.
  2. The Frog, soapstone sculpture.
Kyeyune, Eli (Uganda)
  1. Death,* oil on paper.
  2. Rhoda Kayanja,* oil (1963).
  3. The Conversation,* oil (1963).
  4. The Owl, oil.
Langdown, Amos (South Africa)
  1. Death and the Horsemen, lithograph.
  2. Fighting Cocks; engraving (1962).
  3. Hoola Hoop, woodcut (1962).
  4. Man with Beef, lithograph (1963).
Lumu, Henry Michael (Uganda)
  1. Wandegeya Suburb,* tempera on paper (1960).
Luvwezo, Jean (Zaire)
  1. Dance Masks,* oil.
  2. L'Avenir,* oil.
Malangatana, Valente G. (Mozambique)
  1. Nude with Crucifix, oil (1960).
  2. Rape, oil (1961).
  3. The Voyage, oil (1960).
Manyolo, Betty (Uganda)
  1. African Fable, linocut.
  2. Cattle People,* oil.
  3. Death in the Forest, linocut.
Mitchell, James (South Africa)
  1. Excitement, linocut (1962).
  2. Friday Night, linocut (1961).
  3. "Socker's" Alley, linocut (1962).
Mlahlwa, Mercy (South Africa)
  1. Sisters, soapstone sculpture.
Mulongoya, Pili Pili (Zaire)
  1. Crocodile and Snake Fighting,* oil.
  2. Snake Amid Flowers,* oil.
Musango, Francis (Brother Francis) (Uganda)
  1. Christ in the Manger,* oil.
  2. Kikuyu Women,* watercolor?
  3. The Flower,* watercolor?
Mvusi, Selby (South Africa)
  1. Retreat, charcoal.
  2. The Funeral, charcoal (1961).
  3. The Patriots, pencil or charcoal drawing.
Ngu, Clara Ugbodaga (Nigeria)
  1. Beggars,* oil (1963).
  2. Man and Bird,* oil (1963).
  3. Market Women,* oil.(1961).
Njau, Elimo P. (Tanzania)
  1. Head of Christ,* oil. Murals at Fort Hall Memorial Chapel, Kenya.
  2. The Birth of Christ.
  3. The Last Supper
  4. The Load and the Hoe, lithograph.
Nour, Amir lbrahim Mohed (Sudan)
  1. Building in Black and White, lithograph.
  2. Chaos, lithograph (1961).
  3. Lines and Shapes,* lithograph (1961).
Ntiro, Sam J. (Tanzania)
  1. Chagga Beermaking,* oil.
  2. Conversion of Saint Paul, cartoon for a mural, oil.
  3. In the Banana Grove,* oil.
  4. Kakindo Crucifixion,* oil.
  5. Making Chagga Hut,* oil.
  6. Mango Tree,* oil.
  7. Round Huts,* oil.
Nwoko, Demas N. (Nigeria)
  1. Beggar Boy, watercolor.
  2. Children on Cycles, oil on panel.
Odita, Emmanuel Okechukwu (Nigeria)
  1. Sheep Grazing, oil.
  2. The Market Stall,* oil.
  3. Yam Festival Dancers,* oil (1963).
Ogundele, Rufus (Nigeria)
  1. Bird, linocut.
  2. Figures, linocut.
  3. Scene from "Oba Moro," linocut.
Okeke, C. Uche (Nigeria)
  1. Christ on the Cross, ink and brush on paper.
  2. Frog, Ibo Legendary Figure, pen and ink (1959).
  3. Odede F. Omarudo, pen and ink (1959).
Okeke, Simon Obiekezie (Nigeria)
  1. Composition with Torsos,* oil on paper (1961).
  2. Crouched Figure,* print (1960).9
  3. Head No. 3, sculpture,
  4. Heads with Drum,* oil on paper (1960).
Okiki, Godfrey A. (Nigeria)
  1. African Mother and Child,* woodcut (1963).
  2. Casting the Net,* oil (1964).
  3. Dance to the Talking Drum,* linocut (1963).
  4. Scene: Northern Nigeria,* oil (1964).
  5. The Call,* oil on board (1964).
  6. The Worshippers,* oil (1964).
  7. Women off to Market, woodcut (1963).
Onobrakpeya, Bruce P. 0. (Nigeria)
  1. Ahwaire and the Dog, linocut illustrating an Urhobo folktale that tells how the dog got his black nose.
  2. Ahwaire (the tortoise), linocut illustrating Urhobo legendary figure trapped on the top of the palm tree and being rescued by the fishes.
  3. Eketete and Erbeybuye, linocut illustrating a fight between the two laziest creatures in Benin legend.
  4. Fulani Milk Woman,* linocut.
  5. Okpogho, linocut illustrating Urhobo legendary figure who buried his mother inside his head.
  6. Portrait of Oseni,* linocut.
Osadebe, Oseloka 0. (Nigeria)
  1. He Liveth, linocut (1960).
  2. Ibo Life* (festivals), left half of oil mural at Mbari Centre, Enugu, Nigeria (1963).
  3. Ibo Life,* right half of mural at Mbari Centre (1963).
  4. Ima Ogodo,* linocut.
Osifo, Osagie (Nigeria)
  1. Benin Wrestlers, ebony sculpture.
  2. Girl Carrying a Gourd, traditional whitewood carving.
  3. 15th or 16th century Benin king, carved wood panel.
Richards, R. Vahnjah (Liberia)
  1. The Conversation, mahogany sculpture (1964).
  2. Tribal mask of the Vai Tribe sculpture (1961).
Salahi, lbrahim El (Sudan)
  1. Al Ansari,* oil.
  2. Ammi El Kinani,* oil (1960).
  3. Boats at Angoiai, I, * watercolor (1953).
  4. Boats in the Rain,* watercolor (1954).
  5. Dry Month of the Fast,* oil
  6. Head No.1,* oil.
  7. Head of a Mahdiya Warrior, ink drawing,
  8. Ruins of Suakin,* watercolor (1954).
  9. The Arising,* oil.
  10. The Donkey in my Dreams,* oil.
  11. Untitled drawing, pen and ink (1963).
Sambo, Kingsley (Zimbabwe)
  1. At the Mine, oil.
  2. City Night Life, oil.
Sedibane, Solomon Kgwadi (South Africa)
  1. Foster Mother,* wood sculpture.
  2. Mary and Baby Jesus, wild olivewood sculpture (1960). 
  3. Shangaan Mother and Child, wild olivewood sculpture (1958).
  4. The Wrestlers, red ivorywood sculpture (1961).
Sekoto, Gerard (South Africa)
  1. Mother and Child,* oil (1959).
  2. The Dream of Two Worlds,* oil (1961).
  3. The Notre Dame Church, oil (1960).
  4. Woman Ironing by Candlelight,* oil.
Shibrain, Ahmed Mohammed (Sudan)
  1. Mosque Impressions,* watercolor.
  2. Motives,* watercolor.
  3. Shapes,* ink and wash.
  4. The Flower,* watercolor.
Suliman, Sayed (Sudan)
  1. Grazing,* watercolor.
  2. Night in the Forest, wood engraving.
  3. Small Goats at Midday, pen and ink.
Talabi, George 0. (Nigeria)
  1. A Baltimore Lady,* oil.
  2. African Madonna,* oil.
  3. Broken Wares, print (1963).
  4. Design for "adire" cloth, print.
  5. The Image of African Personality, oil.
  6. Transport in the Sahara, etching.
Tall, Papa Ibra (Senegal)
  1. Harlem,* oil (1962).
  2. La Foret aux Souvenirs, oil (1962).
Tayali, Henry Nikole (Zimbabwe)
  1. Shipwrecked,* watercolor.
  2. Sunset Road,* watercolor.
  3. The Omen,* watercolor.
Tessema, Mamo (Ethiopia)
  1. Porcelain bowl, teapot, and vase,* ceramic.
  2. The Capture,* woodcut.
  3. Vulture, ceramic and steel sculpture.
  4. Warrior,* welded steel sculpture.
  5. Welded Bird,* welded steel sculpture.
Wangboje, Solomon (Nigeria)
  1. At the Wharf,* oil (1960).
  2. Earth, Moon and Sky, 1,* aquatint? (1966).
  3. Male Ego, III.* lithograph (1966).
  4. The Musicmaker: Mood IV,* color etching.
  5. Where Is Ali?* linocut (1961).
Index of Artists By Country
Cameroon
Congo, People's Republic of
EthiopiaGhanaLiberiaMozambiqueNigeriaSenegalSierra LeoneSouth AfricaSudanTanzaniaUgandaZaireZimbabwe
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MoMA, NYC, 10022


African Workshops at the MoMA

Since 1958, the International Program has been active in building and maintaining relationships between MoMA and the visual arts communities in the African region, through a variety of programming including circulating exhibitions, curatorial and professional exchange programs, and publications. Examples of recent International Program activities in the African region are listed in the sidebar to the left.

i

African Museum Professionals Workshop

The African Museum Professionals Workshop—which took place in February 2002 and began at MoMA—traveled to three American cities under the sponsorship of The International Council, Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro, and The Rockefeller Foundation. In New York, participants attended the opening of the landmark exhibition The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa 1945–1994 at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center. This was the first workshop at which participants gave reports not only on their own institutions, but also on contemporary art and artists in their home countries. Participants subsequently traveled to Washington, D.C., in a program arranged by MoMA and the National Museum of African Art. The workshop concluded in Los Angeles with a program organized by MoMA with the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.

Participants in the African Museum Professionals Workshop, February 2002


African cities
Meskerem Assegued
ArtSpace
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Brendan Bell
Tatham Art Gallery
Pietermartizburg, South Africa
Hassoum Ceesay
The Gambia National Museum
Banjul, The Gambia
Philippa Curling
National Gallery of Zimbabwe
Harare, Zimbabwe
Annaleen Eins
The National Gallery of Namibia
Windhoek, Namibia
Kathy Grundlingh
The South African National Gallery
Cape Town, South Africa
Simon Ikpakronyi
National Gallery of Art
Abuja, Nigeria
Silvie Kassi
Musée Municipal d'Art Contemporain de Cocody
Cocody, Côte d'Ivoire
Yacouba Konate
Independent Curator
Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire
Koyo Kouoh
Goree Institute
Goree, Senegal
Julietta Massimbe
Museu Nacional de Arte
Maputo, Mozambique
Monica Mosarwa
Botswana National Museum
Gaborone, Botswana
Judy Ogana
Kuona Trust
Nairobi, Kenya
Patrick Mweemba Siabokoma
Choma Museum and Crafts Centre
Choma, Zambia

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Wednesday, 5 October 2011

Lonely Tramp

Can you hear me through my smelly clothes?
My coat of many pukes; 
Watch me through my holely shoes and 
listen to the purr of my humming-socks.
D-drink from my warmed so-soaken underpants.


I watch you, seeing me as that ugly animal?
Wondering, can you see me as a man at all?
What about a human being?
See me as the man I am and 
see me as I should be seen. 
See me as your human equal.

Again you passed me on your way to work.
I save a tear for you each morning.
See it falling, slowly rolling down my cheek.
Yet again you missed my weeping.
Ignoring my weak and creepy; out-stretched hand. 


Wanting?

Are you reading what I am writing?
Are you hearing what I am praying?
Am I too vulgar for your attention?
Time is money and I have none.
You are cash rich yet time poor.
I am time rich yet piss poor.


Am I too smelly for your concern?
Am I too unimportant to be listened to?
Am I too mucky and lucky to be seen?
Am I too stained, too homeless, too lewd, 
too foul to-give-a shit about?


You keep spitting in my dirty face. Thank you.
Thankyou for watching me wash my-filthy-self,
Thankyou for casting an evil eye on my bathtime.
Scrubbing myself in tepid-urine and your generous spit.


Listen to my voice. Through my wrecked breath...


Hear my words.


Avoid my heavy beard, rotten-teeth, glazed-eyes 
and ruddy face and see me beyond my putrid stench.
Look for the 'Light' within; every book has a silver lining.
And not every poem should be published.
All I want to be is heard.....

I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on London's High Streets.
When all at once I saw a friend.
A holy ghost, of white iries.


Am I worthy of a note, how about a drink then?

JP 2011
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Post Internet Africa



Wars are not fought throughout the land. No country is constantly on fire. War is fought on battlefields, on isolated pockets of every Nation. The Western world tends to focus on the Crisis. Through this sense of Global Duty, the West are hectically treating the wound by killing the patient. There needs to be far more scrutiny on what the alleged ‘Do-gooders’ are really up to. It seems Africa is being used as a convenient dumping ground for unwanted goods and toxic waste. Ships based in Panama are sailing the world with barrels of high toxicity from Dutch-based Oil companies and poisoning those on the West Coast of Africa. While the Kenyans are wearing their best “Mitumba” and busy destroying their own cotton industry. The Middle to Upper Class Africans out numbers all of Middle to Upper Class Europeans and Americans combined; it is a Continent of 53 countries, the largest landmass on earth. It houses over a third of the world's population. No Continent is constantly in Crisis but it seems outsiders would see it otherwise.

Africa is an Aid Industry and as far as I can detect the outsiders are busy wanting to assist but also wanting to control. What must be reinforced is that Oxfam needs Africa, far more than Africa needs Oxfam. The constant distribution of Western cast-offs destroys the internal cotton and cloth industry of the entire Continent and the chemistry needed to produce the dyes. The same can be said about the World Food Programme, The IMF, the World Bank, the Cocoa Industry et al. I see few, if any, that really want change, especially from within the Continent itself. The Powers that be merely want the same continuous turmoil and to keep things in chaos but there is an emergent shift in the Continent's thinking about itself. Economic transparency, fair trade and a greater understanding of good Governance and personal rights are issues that are all now sourced from the information super highway. Communication from those in the Free World and the Third World is causing an awakening consciousness like never before. No longer are the young, aspiring generation of African intelligentsia willing to be seen in the way their Parent’s generation were seen. Information is flooding into the Continent like a Tsunami as we all now live in a Post Internet world. Africa of yesteryear has all but vanished and where those with access to electricity can inform themselves they are and about pretty much anything and everything.

Recently, a Kenyan writer, was telling me all about the news that was just outside my doorstep. He knew all about the British Coalition Government and what it meant and what the policy makers were saying. It was quite disturbing as I choose to keep myself blissfully naïve to the political scene. I wouldn’t have a clue about affairs of State in Africa as my focus is on the Contemporary Art of Africa and the work being produced should show some depth and progression. Artists should be constantly playing around with different and exciting techniques; using diverse materials and enjoying the time spent trying to be an alchemist. Too many seek financial success and international recognition but the reward for a true artist is in the work being produced and the process developing. The work being produced in a lot of Anglophone Nations seems to have no rhyme nor reason, which makes it virtually impossible to judge and that is why often no reputable Art Critic would attempt to criticise an untrained, semi-trained African artist because it is more than his or her job is worth. However, constructive criticism is vital for an artist and for a country encouraging the production of art, especially on the scale of those producing throughout Africa. Pricing the work becomes so problematical as it’s worth nothing or lots to someone, but that side of Contemporary African Art has yet to level out. Some artists are demanding a fortune for their work without any rational or provenance, which pushes Contemporary African Art back down to street level. Although their are a number of pseudo artists trying to exploit the situation, thankfully the majority of true African artists are turning their backs on those that would see them negatively and beginning to understand the importance of producing work that is progressive and forward thinking. There are forces in the world that degrade those within the Continent but their rhetoric is falling on deaf ears. Change is well and truly beginning to happen and it can be seen within the artwork that is being produced. 




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Sunday, 28 August 2011

YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK

Thinking about Uganda and the artists of Kampala this month

This is something all artists interested in this site should sing to their children at bedtime:

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Art Punch Studio Interviews from Kampala


Here is a video of four emerging artists from the Capital of Uganda, Kampala:

Click on this photograph of Wasswa Donald to see the video.
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Thursday, 18 August 2011

Technology Meet Africa! Wasswa Donald Curates

The Mini Online Exhibition

First of a series of videos over the next month set in Kampala, Uganda






Click here or on  the picture to take a look at the book.





Here is a book attached to the first Online Mini Expo on African Artists Inc.Online Mini Expo into the Art of Uganda.
This is the first of many: An Online Expo into that artists of Uganda from the perspective of a young artist living and working in Kampala. Wasswa Donald.

The Mini Exhibition will be shown through The African Well on Youtube and through various other websites that focus on Contemporary African Art. The show outlines the expectations of the young artists of Uganda and gives a slight insight into the Contemporary History of Art of the country. The date is 18th August 2011 and will run for a month. A book will accompany the Mini show or Expo, that has been developed through the Blurb website.

Hopefully this will develop an effective way to show up-and-coming artists from within the Continent and educate all of us to History of Art of a Continent by those within it. The intent is to expose of the artistic heroes of Africa by the Africans.

Join in and watch the works and words of the artists from Kampala, Uganda on Facebook.
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