ARTAFRICAThis year’s edition of The Armory Show’s
‘African Perspectives’ focus section
signals this kind of ‘arrival.’ The section
promises “a glimpse of international
artistic production from contemporary
African viewpoints,” featuring fourteen
galleries, eight of them from the continent,
including three from Cape Town (SMAC,
Whatiftheworld and blank projects), two
from Lagos (Omenka and Echo Art),
Cécile Fakhoury (Abidjan), Addis Fine
Art and Circle Art Agency (Nairobi). The
international galleries include some of
the stalwarts of African contemporary
art: October Gallery (London), Mariane
Ibrahim (Seattle), Tiwani Contemporary
(London) and Vigo (London) as well as
Tanja Wagner Gallery (Berlin) and Galerie
Jerome Poggi (Paris).Undeniably, it is almost impossible to
present more than a glimpse of the
richness of art from fifty-five countries,
and over one billion people, in this
narrow selection. However, the Berlin-
based curators Julia Grosse and Yvette
Mutumba, editors of Contemporary And,
should be congratulated for attempting
to shift perceptions and preconceptions
about the scope of art from the continent,
without suggesting that they’re presenting
a view of contemporary African art which
is in any way definitive. It is impossible to
bridge the work of Ibrahim el-Salahi and
Emeka Ogboh’s Lagos soundscapes – and
that is the whole point.Opening up a conversation, ‘African
Perspectives’ also presents an elegant
handover to The Armory Show’s sister
fair, Volta NY, which has worked hard to
present a significant and diverse group ofNEXT WE TAKE MANHATTAN / VALERIE KABOV 2/4 ARTAFRICA
Dawit Abebe (presented by Kristin
Hjellegjerde Gallery, London), No. 2
Background 40, 2016. Acrylic and collage on
canvas, 240 x 200 cm.Wycliffe Mundopa (presented by First Floor
Gallery Harare, Harare), Paradise of Vice,- Oil, acrylic, and ink on canvas,
132.6 x 187.5 cm.
FEATURE / THE ARMORY SHOW & VOLTA NY