Campo Experimental - Ângela Ferreira in collaboration with Alda Costa

Dear Friends

For years, I’ve had a dream of sharing an exhibition space with one of the people I’ve long collaborated with in the research space: Alda Costa - a Mozambican historian, researcher and activist friend.

The generous and unexpected invitation from Rialto6 in Lisbon - whose only requirement was that I develop an artistic project that challenged me - allowed us the privilege of imagining, all together, a plan for two exhibitions, one at the Rialto6 space in Lisbon and the other at the National Art Museum in Maputo.  These two exhibitions are the result of our research into the Mozambican creative ethos and material investments in the proposed utilisation of natural resources during the first decade after independence. The curators are Paula Nascimento and Álvaro Luís Lima.

I’m delighted to invite you to join us for the opening of Experimental Field: Ângela Ferreira in collaboration with Alda Costa on Friday 26 January at 9:30 pm.

Alda Costa, Ângela Ferreira and Alexandrino José . Arquivo Biblioteca Nacional/col.moçambicana, Maputo, October 2023Alda Costa, Ângela Ferreira and Alexandrino José . Arquivo Biblioteca Nacional/col.moçambicana, Maputo, October 2023

Experimental Field: Ângela Ferreira, in Collaboration with Alda Costa, explores material and environmental research undertaken in the early years of Mozambique’s independence. The exhibition takes its name from an outdoor agricultural learning laboratory maintained at Eduardo Mondlane University’s campus, where university staff, researchers and students worked together to produce food, design resources, tools and structures, and train farmers and community technicians. This experimental site was coordinated by TBARN (Técnicas Básicas de Aproveitamento de Recursos Naturais), a research group formed in the early years of the socialist government to improve farmers’ production and quality of life with minimal resources. 

Ângela Ferreira builds on TBARN’s visual and textual remains to reveal the revolutionary ethos that made Mozambique a global centre for radical experimentation in the 1970s and early 1980s.

The exhibition expands on Ferreira’s research-based practice and its search for the contemporaneity of the past. Experimental Field emerges from the artist’s ongoing dialogue with Alda Costa, a pioneer Mozambican art historian and cultural worker whose lived experience during socialism and scholarship thereafter have made her living memory of an unmatched moment in cultural history. In the exhibition, historical objects from Costa’s milieu and personal collection are displayed alongside Ferreira’s work. These objects’ design reveals the period’s placement of material conditions at the forefront of cultural production. Through this dialogue, Ferreira’s works investigate histories that simultaneously express political pragmatism and creative playfulness, being locally grounded and international in their reach.

In the last quarter of 2024 the exhibition travels to Mozambique.  This second iteration will take place at the Museu Nacional de Arte in Maputo.

The Minister of Education and Culture, Graça Simbine Machel, visiting Eduardo Mondlane University in 1976, on the occasion of the July Activities (AJU), was welcomed by Rector Fernando Ganhão and visited the experimental field of the TBARN Study Centre directed by António Quadros on the main campus. Surrounded by some of his History students (you can recognise Atanásio Dimas on the left), AQ presents part of TBARN's projects. On the right, partially covered up, is Patrocínio da Silva, head of the AJU/1976 Central Commission. Source: UEM/AHM archive. Photographs: Carlos Alberto, Armindo AfonsoThe Minister of Education and Culture, Graça Simbine Machel, visiting Eduardo Mondlane University in 1976, on the occasion of the July Activities (AJU), was welcomed by Rector Fernando Ganhão and visited the experimental field of the TBARN Study Centre directed by António Quadros on the main campus. Surrounded by some of his History students (you can recognise Atanásio Dimas on the left), AQ presents part of TBARN's projects. On the right, partially covered up, is Patrocínio da Silva, head of the AJU/1976 Central Commission. Source: UEM/AHM archive. Photographs: Carlos Alberto, Armindo Afonso

 

 

19.01.2024 | by Nélida Brito | Africa, Art, Maputo

Lubumbashi Biennale | 7th edition

Picha is pleased to announce the 7th edition of the Lubumbashi Biennale, Democratic Republic of Congo, to be held from October 6 to November 6, 2022 under the artistic direction of Picha. Picha, “image” in Swahili, which was founded as an association in 2008, will be joined by five associate curators - Paula Nascimento, Lucrezia Cipitelli, Bruno Leitão, René Francisco Rodríguez and Mpho Matsipa - and a curatorial advisor - Ugochukwu- Smooth C. Nzewi.


The Biennale explores the contemporary creation of the artistic scene in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in the world. It is today one of the most dynamic and experimental artistic events on the African continent. For its upcoming edition, the biennale will interrogate toxicity as a condition of existence that has inextricably affected social worlds under the title ’ToxiCité’ or ’ToxiCity’. As a starting point, the theme will open the collective elaboration of a critical and transformative take on the social and cultural environment, in Lubumbashi and in the world.

Composed of two concepts, that of the ‘toxic’ and that of the ‘city’, the next Lubumbashi Biennale envisages to question and reflect upon the link between contemporary life in the postcolonial urban setting of Lubumbashi and more widely in the urban Global South, and the impact of a number of industrial, economic, ecological, social and cultural processes that have historically contributed, for better and for worse, to the shape and dynamics of urban life in this and other parts of the world today.

The theme of toxicity, then, offers a starting point for a critical elaboration and consciousness of oneself and one’s natural, social and cultural environment, ‘as a product of the historical processes to date, which has deposited in you an infinity of traces, without leaving an inventory.’ (Gramsci 1971:324). By focusing on the theme of toxicity, the curatorial committee of this Edition endeavours to open up a critical space of artistic engagement and reflection to start exploring the possible shapes such ‘an inventory of traces’ might take, in the hope that such a compilation will also tell us something more about the possible futures to envision from here on.

Lubumbashi

Lubumbashi is the second largest city in Democratic Republic of the Congo. The main industrial centre of the mining district of southeastern Congo, it lies 110 miles (180 km) northwest of Ndola, Zambia. Lubumbashi is the name of a small local river. The town was established by Belgian colonists in 1910 as a copper-mining settlement and was designated an urban district in 1942. Most regional mining companies are headquartered in Lubumbashi, which is the transportation centre for mineral products (copper, cobalt, zinc, cadmium, germanium, tin, manganese, and coal) from the towns of Likasi, Kolwezi, Kipushi, and others. Mineral exploitation has been dominated by a governmentowned organisation, but foreign mining companies are also in evidence. The city’s other industries include printing, brewing, flour milling, and the production of confectionery, cigarettes, brick, and soap. Lubumbashi has a civic auditorium, a national museum, a Roman Catholic cathedral, and the Society of Congo Historians, as well as the University of Lubumbashi founded in 1955.

Picha

Picha is an initiative of artists operating independently from Lubumbashi that supports and promotes artistic creation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Picha provides visibility for contemporary art in Lubumbashi by providing a venue for exhibitions, meetings, artist residencies, training workshops and artistic accompaniment. Picha intends to promote artistic creation by taking the urban space as a stage and the image as a medium. Picha wants to bring an artistic reflection, both endogenous and speaking to the world, on the city of Lubumbashi, its history and its environment today. In addition to the organization of the Biennale de Lubumbashi, the association has to its credit the realization of several exhibitions, video and photo workshops, training programs and artist residencies, conducted with the aim of offering national and international exposure to local artists and arts initiatives. To fulfill its mission, Picha has created the following platforms:

The Biennale de Lubumbashi, founded in 2008 under the name of “Rencontres Picha”, has become one of the most experimental and dynamic artistic events on the African continent, offering a platform for presentation and meeting to local and international artists and cultural actors local.

Atelier Picha is a permanent training program dedicated to the production and dissemination of participatory artistic and cultural projects. Atelier Picha allows the networking of a new generation of Congolese artists and cultural producers with other national and international cultural actors. The program offers a period of research and production and professional accompaniment to young people in the conceptualization of their project. Since 2017, Picha has allowed a dozen emerging artists from across the country to participate in the workshops. In 2019 and 2020, Atelier Picha collaborates with Picha’s partner institutions, such as Sharjah Art Foundation (Sharjah), Market Photo Workshop (Johannesburg), Gasworks (London), Art Hub Asia (Shanghai), Universidad Distrital de Colombia (Bogota), Raw Material Company (Dakar). The artistic direction is led by Lucrezia Cippitelli.

The Picha Residence Program, initiated in 2014, invites artists from the African continent and abroad for a research and production period in Lubumbashi. In 2021 Picha had the pleasure to welcome/host the artists Francis Alÿs and Nicole Rafiki.

MAKWAChA, The project of setting up a screen-printing workshop in Lubumbashi and Makwacha initiated by Picha aims to revisit and enhance, through textile screen-printing, the traditional practice of mural painting existing in different regions of the Congo and the various textile creations local handicrafts (such as velvet Kuba), while integrating them into a thoughtful artistic and community approach. The period of the last Lubumbashi Biennale, from October 24 to November 24, 2019, gave visibility to the Makwacha project through numerous visits by participants and speakers from all over the world. The end of the construction work allowed the arrival and installation of artists to work and interact with the women of the community.

More informations.

16.09.2022 | by Alícia Gaspar | Art, Bienal de Lubumbashi, biennal, Bruno Leitão, culture, democratic republic of congo, Lucrezia Cipitelli, mpho matsipa, paula nascimento, René Francisco Rodríguez, Ugochukwu- Smooth C. Nzewi

Kiluanji Kia Henda | A Healing Path for Phantom Pain

Kiluanji Kia Henda

04 February - 05 March 2022

Goodman Gallery, London

Goodman Gallery is pleased to present “A Healing Path for Phantom Pain”, Kiluanji Kia Henda’s first solo exhibition in the UK. The exhibition brings together bodies of work continuing the artist’s exploration of collective memory through engagement with landscapes and public structures.

The title of the exhibition couples the painful realities of the past — which present themselves as ghostly recurrences — with the hopeful possibility of recovery. More pointedly, it reflects on the history of Angola through a critique of structures of power that continue colonial legacies. The artist explains; “On the street where I grew up in Luanda, there was a school, a cinema, a police station, and a Catholic church next to an Orthopaedic centre – each of which played a part in the colonial strategy. I decided to focus on the Catholic church and the Orthopaedic centre to think through Western influences in Angola’s history and its devastating conflict.”

The 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death in 2017 coincided with Kia Henda’s return to Luanda from New York — a trip during which Diana’s humanitarian efforts were advertised broadly in international media. Part of Diana’s efforts included a visit to Angola, in 1997, where she lobbied against the military industry which benefited from the terror of war, particularly in the production and distribution of anti-personnel landmines. Through photographs, a video installation, as well as new sculptural installations, Kia Henda reflects on the continued effects of active landmines in Angola. A vestige of the brutal civil war, anti-personnel landmines continue to threaten the lives of civilians across the country.

Terra inóspita is a new sculpture that gestures at illusions of safety. The work is modelled on signs used to warn people of the existence of anti-personnel landmines. Made from 117 glass rods, Terra inóspita is a reinterpretation of these warning signs which are often made of wooden sticks painted red and white. The translucency and fragility of glass as a material reflects on the battlefield as a site of deadly experimentation, a lethal laboratory of forts. Loosely translated from Portuguese as “inhospitable land”, the sculpture reflects frustration at the inefficacy of measures to prevent death. Kia Henda recalls small children playing near these signs, wholly unaware of the dangers of existing landmines. Through this work, he pushes against the historicization of the war, returning these concerns to the present moment. Alongside this work is a clay sculpture, A Healing Path for Phantom Pain, based on rehabilitation apparatus used by patients at the Neves Bendinha Orthopaedic Centre. The work reflects on processes of healing and recuperation. The sculpture functions as a model for Kia Henda’s plans to replicate a lifesize rehabilitation apparatus, using sand. For the artist, both materials of sand and clay contain fragility and have a connection to healing pains of the past.

The series of photographs in the exhibition document the Neves Bendinha Orthopaedic Centre and the Santa Ana Catholic church. Devoid of human beings and with no signifiers of time, the images capture an enduring melancholy and restlessness. Both the Orthopaedic centre and the church are a reflection of sites of hope for many Angolans who experienced the effects of war. And yet they reveal themselves as not completely within reach — enclosed, protected…and therefore empty.

Restless Landscape is a series of digital print montages. The images are an assemblage of photographs of the landscape in the central part of Angola where the civil war was particularly damaging. Thinking about the impact of war on both people and on nature, Kia Henda gestures towards trauma’s ability to root itself into the land, thereby necessitating a process of healing and renewal. By creating the photomontages, he is recreating a new landscape filled with overlapping trees — this process of manipulation is Kia Henda’s attempt at rehabilitating the land from a traumatic past.

In Phantom Pain – A letter to Henry A. Kissinger (2020), part of which is filmed at the Neves Bendinha Orthopaedic Centre, Kia Henda confronts former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger for his involvement in crimes against humanity and the resultant enduring pain his decisions caused. Kissinger, of course, remains a polarising figure hailed as both war criminal and venerated as a Nobel prize laureate. Through this work, Kia Henda points to the ways in which the retelling of history is illusory, perhaps even deceptive.

Through a meditation on the geopolitical, “A Healing Path for Phantom Pain” studies how trauma travels temporally and spatially while also confronting the painful process of overcoming that trauma.

KILUANJI KIA HENDA

Kiluanji Kia Henda (b. 1979, Luanda, Angola) employs a surprising sense of humour in his work, which often homes in on themes of identity, politics, and perceptions of post-colonialism and modernism in Africa. Kia Henda brings a critical edge to his multidisciplinary practice, which incorporates photography, video, and performance. Informed by a background surrounded by photography enthusiasts, Kia Henda’s conceptual-based work has further been sharpened by exposure to music, avant-garde theatre, and collaborations with a collective of emerging artists in Luanda’s art scene. Much of Kia Henda’s work draws on history through the appropriation and manipulation of public spaces and structures, and the different representations that form part of collective memory, in order to produce complex, yet powerful imagery.

Kia Henda has had solo exhibitions in galleries and institutions around the world. His work has featured on biennales in Venice, Dakar, São Paulo and Gwanju as well as major travelling exhibitions such as Making Africa: A Continent of Contemporary Design and The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Hell, Purgatory revisited by Contemporary African Artists. In 2019, Kia Henda’s work was acquired by Tate Modern in London, and he was selected to participate on the Unlimited sector at Art Basel. In 2020, Kia Kenda exhibited at the MAN Museo d’Arte Provincia di Nuoro in Italy, marking his first solo exhibition in a major European museum.

Kia Henda currently lives and works between Luanda and Lisbon.

05.02.2022 | by Alícia Gaspar | A Healing Path for Phantom Pain, Art, culture, exhibition, goodman gallery, kiluanji kia henda

Refugee Arts Networks: Extending the Frame

This panel discussion & exchange brings together refugee artists’ advocacy networks to discuss new models for resilient creative networks.

About this event

What are the strategies and challenges faced by refugee artists today? How can networks foster systemic change? How can we develop new frameworks driven by artistic vision created by refugee artists?

This panel discussion & exchange will bring together refugee artists’ advocacy networks to discuss new models for resilient creative networks, featuring grassroots organisations from the UK, France, Germany and Portugal.

This is an event for artists, scholars, cultural workers and policymakers, aiming to increase visibility and opportunities for refugee artists and groups, to share experiences and practices across geographic and cultural settings. The hybrid event will facilitate an open conversation on the role of networks in advocating change on various artistic and institutional levels, aiming to build alliances across research and the creative sector within and outside the UK.

This event is FREE to attend, and we welcome everyone who is interested in refugeedom and performing arts! Tickets are available to attend either in-person or online. Space for social distancing will be created for the live event. For those who attend in person, the event will end with a reception and networking opportunity lasting until 18:00. For those who choose to join us online, the link and details of how to join will be sent to you on the morning of the event(02/11/2021)

Event organisers:

Drama Department, University of Manchester

Community Arts North West (CAN)

Migrant Dramaturgies Network 

New Tides Platform

Participating organisations:

Migrants in Theatre, UK

MENA Arts, UK

L’Atelier des Artistes en Exil [Agency of Artists in Exile], France

PostHeimat Network, Germany

UNA- União Negras das Artes [Union of Black Artists], Portugal

26.10.2021 | by Alícia Gaspar | Art, culture, france, Germany, Portugal, refugee arts networks, refugees, UK, união negra das artes

Decolonising the City

A participação no programa está condicionada a inscrição através do e-mail: miraforum@miragalerias.net
A entrada no debate está limitada à lotação máxima, tendo prioridade os participantes no percurso pedonal.

PROGRAMA:

14h00/ Percurso pedonal tem ponto de encontro na entrada dos Jardins do Palácio de Cristal. Termina no MIRA FORUM onde se realiza o debate “Decolonising the City”. 

Este evento é composto por um percurso pedonal organizado pelo colectivo InterStruct, com duração aproximada de duas horas e meia. O percurso será guiado e animado por Desirée Desmarattes e Natasha Vijay. O percurso antecede o debate no MIRA FORUM. 

Debate organizado e moderado por Ana Jara e Miguel Cardina, com a participação de Desirée Desmarattes, Dori Nigro, Marta Lança e Paulo Moreira.

PERCURSO:

O percurso é da responsabilidade do colletivo InterStruct. Visa unir experiências pessoais, memórias coletivas e relíquias do colonialismo, oferecendo uma nova visão que nos permite examinar as raízes do preconceito individual e dos sistemas de opressão.

Propõe-se uma caminhada performativa como forma de ativismo que aborda a falta de atenção, reconhecimento e revisão das narrativas e ideologias colonialistas que circulam na sociedade portuguesa.

DEBATE:

O debate “DESCOLONIZAR A CIDADE” tem por objetivo problematizar a persistência de estruturas e imaginários coloniais no espaço público em Portugal. Partindo do lugar social e político da arquitetura, o debate pretende analisar de que forma o corpo da(s) cidade(s) mantém lógicas de (re)produção de representações coloniais, modos de segregação socio-espacial e hierarquias - ora vincadas, ora subtis - nas quais ainda reverberam dicotomias como as de centro e periferia, metrópole e colónias, norte e sul.

Essa perspetiva diacrónica sobre a cidade e os desafios de a descolonizar irrompe a partir de um presente onde se torna fundamental aprofundar as discussões sobre o racismo, a violência policial e as desigualdades, ou sobre as pertenças, migrações e diásporas, e que aponta necessariamente para um futuro no qual o Direito à Cidade se assume como um emergente horizonte de cidadania.

Evento integrado na 17ª Representação Oficial Portuguesa na Bienal de Arquitectura de Veneza. Comissariado pela Direção-Geral das Artes.

EN
Participation is subject to prior registration by e-mail: miraforum@galerias.net 
Entrance to the debate is limited to a maximum capacity and participants of the walking tour will have priority.

14h00 / Walking tour beginning at the main entrance of Jardins do Palácio de Cristal finishing at MIRA FORUM, for the debate part.

This event consists of a walking tour organised by the InterStruct collective, lasting approximately two and a half hours. The walk will be guided by Desirée Desmarattes and Natasha Vijay. The tour is followed by a debate taking place at MIRA FORUM. 

Debate organised and moderated by Ana Jara and Miguel Cardina, with the participation of Desirée Desmarattes, Dori Nigro, Marta Lança and Paulo Moreira.

Walking tour:
Joining personal contemporaneous experiences, collective memories and relics of colonialism to its wider historical context can offer new insight and enable us to examine the root causes of individual prejudice and systems of oppression. We propose a performative walking tour as a form of activism that addresses the lack of attention, acknowledgement and revision of colonialist narratives and ideologies that circulate Portuguese society.

The ‘Decolonising the City’ debate aims to question the persistence of colonial structures and mentalities in the public sphere in Portugal. Starting from architecture’s social and political place, the debate is intended to analyse how the form of cities continues to (re)produce colonial representations, modes of social and spatial segregation and hierarchies - both clear and subtle - which are still abuzz with dichotomies such as centre and periphery, metropolis and colonies, north and south.

This diachronic view of the city and the challenges of decolonising it arises at a time when it is essential to discuss racism, policy violence and inequality on a deeper level, as well as to consider issues of belonging, migration and diasporas, and which also points to a future in which the Right to the City is an emerging horizon for citizenship.

Event part of the 17th Portuguese Official Representation at the Venice Architecture Biennale. Commissioned by Direção-Geral das Artes.

13.09.2021 | by Alícia Gaspar | Art, cidade, decolonising the city, descolonizar, event, Lisbon, política

Exhibition - UPCycles Residência Criativa Audiovisual, 2021

Inauguration of the Exhibition - UPCycles Residência Criativa Audiovisual 2021, on next Friday (September 3) at 6 pm, at the Fortress of Maputo - which will present five multidisciplinary works by emerging artists from Mozambique and Cape Verde, with tutorship by Ângela Ferreira ( Portugal/South Africa) and Edson Chagas (Angola).

An organization of the Association of Friends of the Museum of Cinema (AAMCM) with funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and with your indispensable support.  

02.09.2021 | by Alícia Gaspar | Art, audiovisual, cape Verde, exhibition, Maputo, mozambique, museum of cinema, Portugal, upcycles

Ângela Ferreira, structures et gestes — Indépendance Cha Cha & #BucketsystemMustFall

Exhibition from 04 July 2021 to 25 September 2021

#BucketsystemMustFall - Centre d’art Ygrec-ENSAPC, Aubervilliers (93)

-Opening on Saturday 03 July from 2.30 pm to 7 pm

-Open from Wednesday to Saturday from 1pm to 7pm 

Indépendance Cha Cha  - Centre d’art de l’Abbaye de Maubuisson, Saint Ouen-L’Aumône (95)

-Opening on Sunday 04 July from 2.30 pm to 6.15 pm 

-Booking mandatory - 01.34.33.85.00 

Open each day except for Tuesday from 1pm to 6.15pm Wednesday 9.30am - 11.45am and 1pm - 6.15pm


From July 4 to September 25, 2021, the exhibition  Ângela Ferreira, structures and gestures - Independence Cha Cha & #BucketsystemMustFall unfolds on two sites: the art center of the Abbaye de Maubuisson, located in Saint Ouen-L’Aumône (95) and Ygrec-ENSAPC, art center of the Ecole nationale supérieure d’arts Paris-Cergy located in Aubervilliers (93).  Ângela Ferreira proposes two distinct installations in relation to the two specific contexts: on the one hand the architectural heritage of the abbey’s gardens, and on the other hand the urban density and the history of migration in Aubervilliers.

In the barn of the Maubuisson Abbey Art Center,  Ângela Ferreira presents Independence Cha Cha, an installation composed notably of a large-scale wooden sculpture. Inspired by her participation in the Lubumbashi Biennial (Democratic Republic of Congo) in 2013, the sculpture borrows its modernist form from that of the façade of a service station located in the center of Lubumbashi created by the Belgian architect Claude Strebelle in the late 1950s. This sculpture serves as a support for the projection of two videos. The first documents a performance organized by the artist during the Lubumbashi Biennale, in which two singers sing the song «Je vais entrer dans la mine» (I’m going to enter the mine). In the second, which gives its title to the work, the musical group of the Hôtel du Parc of Lubumbashi interprets «Independence Cha Cha», an emblematic hymn of the African Francophone independence movement. Interacting with the sculpture is a series of collages that include photographs and various documents related to the events presented in the videos.

At Ygrec-ENSAPC,  Ângela Ferreira proposes a new installation specially designed for the art center. Entitled #BucketsystemMustFall, it refers to the South African student protest movement #RhodesMustFall, initially directed against the memorial statue of Cecil John Rhodes (British colonialist, 1853-1902), a symbol of the persistence of institutional racism within the University of Cape Town. On March 9, 2015, in order to call for its removal, activist Chumani Maxwele grabbed a bucket of excrement and dumped it on the statue. This highly publicized gesture led to the removal of the statue and initiated a strong mobilization across South Africa advocating for the decolonization of education and universities. By bringing together the images of the fallen statue with precarious latrines, Ferreira articulates the ideas of debunking, political activism with the symbolism of the “bucket system toilet”, a blatant revelation of social inequalities and segregation. Finally, “and by implication only, it points to the question and meaning of using human feces as a tool for political statement. An image which seems to have become central to South African urban problems.”

From facades to monuments,  Ângela Ferreira’s double exhibition bears witness to her interest in architecture and the investigative work that the artist carries out to make visible the political agendas and ideologies that constructions - in all their forms - convey. Combining research and artistic experimentation, her works - be they sculptural, video or photographic - explore the survivals and ghosts of colonialism and post-colonialism in contemporary society. They contribute to uncovering unofficial memories and narratives and the insidious mechanisms of oppression, while problematizing the revolutionary utopias of the euphoric period surrounding African independence movements and nation building.

In order to share the artistic and social interrogations inherent to  Ângela Ferreira’s work beyond the two exhibition sites, a series of discussions and a seminar will be organized with the Théâtre de La Commune d’Aubervilliers in the fall of 2021, inviting students, researchers and associations. 

Curated by: Corinne Diserens, Marie Menèstrier et Guillaume Breton

*Ângela Ferreira 

Originally from Mozambique, where she was born in 1958, Ângela Ferreira grew up in South Africa where she received her MFA at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town. She lives and works in Portugal and teaches at the University of Lisbon where she completed a PhD in 2016. 

Her work has been presented in Portugal, Africa and internationally in solo exhibitions which include: A Spontaneous Tour of Some Monuments of African Architecture, Hangar, Lisbon (2021); Talk Tower for Forough Farrokhzad, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm (2021); 1 Million Roses for Angela Davis, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden (2020); Dalaba: Sol d’Exil, Fidelidade Arte, Lisbon (2019); Pan African Unity Mural, MAAT – Museu Arte Arquitetura Tecnologia, Lisbon, (2018); Boca, Centre Régional de la Photographie, Douchy-les-Mines (2016); Wattle and Daub, Old School, Lisbon (2016); Hollows Tunnels, Cavities and more…, Filomena Soares Gallery, Lisbon (2015); A Tendency to Forget, Museu Berardo, Lisbon (2015); Messy Colonialism, Wild Decolonization, Zona MACO SUR, Mexico (2015); Revolutionary Traces, Stroom, Den Haag (2014); SAAL Brigades, Museu de Serralves, Oporto (2014); Independance Cha Cha, Galeria do Parque, Vila Nova da Barquinha (2014); Political Cameras (from Mozambique series), Stills, Edinburgh (2012); For Mozambique, Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town (2008); Hard Rain Show, Berardo Museum, Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon and La Criée art center, Rennes (2008)… 

She has participated in numerous group exhibitions as well as several international biennials such as the 3rd Lubumbashi Biennial (2013), the 28th São Paulo Biennial (2008)  the 52nd Venice Biennial (2007).

02.07.2021 | by Alícia Gaspar | #bucketsystemmustfall, ângela ferreira, Art, exhibition, indépendance cha cha, South Africa

"Les récits impliqués de l'art" une rencontre avec Sophie Orlando & Olga Rozenblum

Vendredi 4 juin à 14h aura lieu la sixième et avant-dernière séance en ligne du séminaire “Que peut le récit ? Pratiques historiennes, artistiques et curatoriales” proposé par Vanessa Brito dans le cadre d’un partenariat entre les Beaux-Arts de Marseille, le Collège International de Philosophie, le Frac Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, le Mucem, le cinéma La Baleine et la librairie L’Hydre aux mille têtes.

À noter que la dernière séance du séminaire aura lieu le vendredi 11 juin, toujours en ligne, en compagnie de l’historien Romain Bertrand.

Pour cette table ronde intitulée Les récits impliqués de l’art, les Beaux-Arts de Marseille invitent Sophie Orlando (historienne de l’art) et Olga Rozenblum (commissaire d’exposition, productrice et programmatrice).

Comment participer à un récit de l’art qui ne parle pas à la place des artistes, des militant·e·s, des communautés mais leur laisse leur place à table ? Comment les remettre au centre de la situation et de l’énonciation de l’art ? Olga Rozenblum et Sophie Orlando discuteront de leurs manières de faire, de leurs différentes relations à la fois aux personnes et aux archives. Elles échangeront sur leurs manières de faire émerger les tissages entre différentes générations afin de proposer des généalogies d’affinités politiques. Olga Rozenblum discutera notamment de ses projets autour de Guillaume Dustan, Maïa Izzo-Foulquier et Griselidis Réal, tandis que Sophie Orlando parlera des écritures des récits féministes de l’art, de son travail avec les pensées et les œuvres du Black art britannique, mais surtout de l’écriture des récits produits par et autour des écoles d’art.

Pour vous connecter à cette séance, suivez le lien Teams suivant :

Cliquez ici pour rejoindre la réunion

Les informations complètes sur la séance du 4 juin se trouvent sur le site de l’école et sur Facebook.  

Olga Rozenblum est co-fondatrice de l’espace indépendant Treize à Paris et des structures red shoes et les Volcans, à travers lesquelles elle accompagne des artistes dans leurs projets de films ou d’exposition, cherchant avec elles/eux des systèmes alternatifs de production et de diffusion. Elle a organisé ces dernières années le festival UNdocumenta (festival de films disparus), la rétrospective des films de Guillaume Dustan, l’activation du fonds du Centre de documentation international sur la prostitution créé par Grisélidis Réal.

Basée à Paris, Sophie Orlando enseigne les théories de l’art à la Villa Arson, à Nice. Elle écrit, édite, diffuse à propos de pratiques artistiques situées dans la sphère du conceptualisme, des arts noirs européens et elle partage des formes culturelles et pratiques antiracistes et antisexistes. Elle développe actuellement des textes, entretiens et programmes sur les pédagogies critiques appliquées au champ de l’art.

Vanessa Brito est professeure aux Beaux-Arts de Marseille et directrice de programme au Collège International de Philosophie.

À noter que la dernière séance du séminaire aura lieu le vendredi 11 juin, toujours en ligne, en compagnie de l’historien Romain Bertrand.

01.06.2021 | by Alícia Gaspar | Art, Beaux-Arts de Marseille, Conference, historien

Atelier BUALA à Kinshasa

19 juin - 10h - 15 espace culturel Aw’Art

Presentation du BUALA 

“Memorialisation: moyens de produire de la mémoire dans l’art et la ville” / Rencontre avec Marta Lança 

Nous examinerons les moyens de produire et de remettre en question la mémoire collective et la transmission de l’histoire, par le biais de monuments commémoratifs, de musées, de pratiques artistiques et documentaires. Notre mémoire culturelle et collective résulte de l’ensemble des politiques commémoratives et de leur rhétorique de légitimation, de culture visuelle, de pédagogies dominantes, d’artefacts et de symboles. Pour connaître les éléments qui interviennent dans la construction et la transmission de certaines mémoires collectives, nous devons comprendre les forces en jeu ici, ce qu’il est choisi de mémoriser, comment et par qui. À titre d’exemples de commémoration, nous tiendrons compte de l’histoire de sa controverse, puisque la mémoire s’articule avec la politique actuelle et accorde une valeur au côté plus subjectif, lié à l’expérience. Montrons des exemples d’artistes apportant de nouveaux visuels et contribuant à déconstruire certaines mémoires collectives, tels que des projets de conservation, des musées, des mémoriaux et des registres aux villes de pays lusophones.

“Vive ensemble : l´exposition d´art contemporain en tant qu expérience collective”/Rencontre avec Marta Mestre 
On discutera les enjeux de la mise en place d´une exposition d´art contemporain par le biais de son écologie sociale. 
Exercice collective, expérimentation, pratique sociale, art et vie, une exposition tien un rapport direct avec une pluralité de savoir-faire et avec des réseaux artistiques locales et internationaux qui peuvent se développer hors institution (musée, marché, et). 
A partir de quelques exemples de projets artistiques au Brésil et au Portugal, on présentera des démarches artistiques collaboratives.

Discussion sur e champ artistique/ critique d´art et la memoire. 

18.06.2019 | by martalanca | Art, Kinshsa, memoire

Re-Lembrar | Re-Membering | MAPUTO

O ponto de partida da exposição internacional Re-Lembrar (Mystery of Foreign Affairs) é uma reflexão sobre a vida entre culturas diferentes de vinte mil trabalhadores moçambicanos que trabalharam e moraram na República Democrática Alemã. Contudo, o projeto almeja também, de forma mais abrangente, contribuir para uma reflexão sobre as relações entre Europa e África, no passado e no presente.

A primeira parte da exposição decorreu em vários lugares da cidade de Schwerin, na Alemanha, entre setembro e novembro de 2017, com a participação de artistas de Moçambique, Angola, África do Sul e Alemanha. Nesta exposição, as obras de artistas como Dito Tembe, Iris Buchholz Chocolate e Katrin Michel abordam a temática das relações de intercâmbio da República Democrática da Alemanha com trabalhadores moçambicanos, conhecidos como Madgermans. Por seu turno, as obras de artistas como Matias Ntundo ou Gemuce proporcionam uma revisitação do passado colonial, enquanto os trabalhos de Edson Chagas e Zanele Muholi representam a presença e a questão de estereótipos e atribuições culturais no mundo atual.

A segunda parte da exposição decorre em dois espaços da cidade de Maputo, no Camões – Centro Cultural Português e na Fortaleza de Maputo, e estará patente entre 14 de junho e 27 de julho de 2018. Em Maputo, a exposição passa a incluir dois trabalhos sobre a Namíbia: Towards Memory, de Katrin Winkler, um projeto de vídeo e pesquisa que surgiu de uma colaboração com mulheres da Namíbia que foram enviadas em crianças para a RDA em 1979, aquando da luta da libertação e anti-apartheid no seu país. O segundo trabalho é intitulado Namibia Today, de Laura Horelli, e recorda a edição do jornal homónimo impresso na então RDA.

Em Maputo, são ainda apresentadas obras de Jorge Dias, Maimuna Adam, Gemuce, Dito Tembe, Luís Santos, Matias Ntundo, Iris Buchholz Chocolate, Edson Chagas e Katrin Michel. Através de diferentes meios, da instalação à pintura, passando pela escultura e vídeo, a exposição pretende contribuir para um trabalho de memória sobre o passado comum, bem como para uma reflexão sobre as relações atuais entre África e Europa.

20.07.2018 | by martalanca | Africa, african art, african artist, Art, Book art, Book objects, Conceptual art, contemporary art, diáspora, exhibitions, Found Objects, freedom, Installation, Maputo, migration, mozambique, post colonial

Post Doctoral/ Pre-Doctoral Fellowships in the Wits Art Museum, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg

‘We invite applications for 2 Fellowship in the WITS ART MUSEUM at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. These fellowships are funded by The Andrew W Mellon Foundation and will be situated in the Wits Art Museum. The positions will preferably be filled by Postdoctoral candidates, but we will consider strong applications from candidates with MA degrees intending to enroll for, or currently enrolled for PhDs. The fellows will work with the curators of the Wits Art Museum and the Chair in the Centre for the Creative Arts of Africa on a research-driven re-engagement with the collections of historical and contemporary African arts in the Wits Art Museum. We are therefore looking for fellows with research experience in one or more of the following fields: African visual art, African music, African performance arts, African dress. One of the main tasks of the fellows will be to help academic divisions in Wits and at other institutions access, engage with, and use the collections in teaching and research. They will have to outline and drive a series of seminars which will, at the end of the project, be published as a collection of essays. Fellows will be expected to participate in exhibitions and publications planned within the Wits Art Museum.
Each Fellowship will be for a period of 36 months (although we may consider terms shorter than that) and will include a stipend, a shared office with own computer, library access and a small research grant per year. The fellowship project will start in July 2012, and will end in July 2015.
Applications must be sent to Julia Charlton, (Senior Curator at WAM) Julia.Charlton@wits.ac.za, and should include:
Title and abstract of the doctoral thesis, or master’s thesis/research report
Copies of degree certificate (or a signed letter from a supervisor saying that the degree will be completed before the candidate is due to take up the position)
Copies of completed articles or published essays (if any)
A Curriculum Vitae (Resumé)
A letter of motivation.
The names and email addresses of two referees, one of whom should be the supervisor of the doctorate/MA dissertation.
Submission deadline 15 July 2012.’

15.06.2012 | by joanapereira | Art, Johannesburg, museum, university

"Hantologie des colonies"

Jeudi 10 novembre à 19h / entrée libre
Médiathèque de Noisy-le-Sec
Dixième soirée Hantologie des colonies
REJOUER L’HISTOIRE
Séance ouverte par Pauline Curnier-Jardin, artiste en résidence à la Galerie de Noisy-le-sec, qui présentera deux courtes vidéos La Vision de Dédé et Ami. Elle fera le récit de sa rencontre avec la question coloniale et l’impact de celle-ci sur certains de ses travaux.

Avó (Muidumbe)
(10 min, v.o. sous-titrée en français, 2009)

Nshajo (O Jogo)
(8 min, v.o. sous-titrée en français, 2010)
de Raquel Schefer
Dans Avó, Raquel, une étudiante en documentaire à Buenos Aires, réinterprète le passé colonial de ses grands-parents au Mozambique. Elle s’approprie, monte et manipule l’archive familiale super8 enregistrée par son grand-père, ex-administrateur colonial. L’artiste scrute l’imagerie pour en extraire les signes les plus marquants de la domination déguisée derrière la normalité apparente du quotidien familial. Elle essaie de reconstruire la vie familiale qu’elle n’a pas vécu et qu’elle sait être une partie de sa propre histoire. L’artiste convoque ainsi le temps mythique de l’épopée impériale portugaise et opère un mouvement de colonisation de l’imagerie et, au-delà, de l’espace de représentation circonscrit par son grand-père.

et

Joal la portugaise
(6 min, v.o. sous-titrée en français, 2004)
d’Ângela Ferreira
Joal la portugaise est filmé à Joal-Fadiouth, au Sénégal. La vidéo raconte, à la première personne, une des versions de l’histoire de la femme qui donna son nom à la ville, colonisée successivement par les Portugais, les Hollandais, les Français et les Anglais. L’œuvre fait référence aux « signares », femmes d’origine portugaise ayant joué un rôle important dans la politique et l’économie locales, source d’inspiration du poète Léopold Senghor, premier président du Sénégal indépendant, né précisément à Joal en 1906.
Projection en présence de Raquel Schefer suivie d’une discussion avec Pauline Curnier Jardin (artiste en résidence à la Galerie)
Pour en savoir plus sur ce film et avoir accès aux infos pratiques,
rendez-vous sur www.hantologie.com
Retrouvez aussi le Journal fantôme des colonies
sur le blog de Khiasma

08.11.2011 | by joanapires | Art, histoire, mozambique, senegal, vidéos

Trash Anthology - Anthology Trash by Yonamine

 Eduardo Aquino Eduardo Aquino

Yonamine was born in Luanda in 1975 and lived in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil, UK and Portugal. His spatial installations and video works deal with Angolan history, simultaneously they are also inspired by popular culture and pop-art itself. The archeology of images from the collective archive is challenged by ironical comments concerning the present situation in Africa, playing with icons and heroic figures. Starting point for the installation Anthology Trash – Trash Anthology was the publication archive of the Iwalewa-Haus, whioch is deconstructed and questioning.

Exhibition Time: 27.11.11 to 04.03.12

Iwalewa-Haus, University of Bayreuth, Germany

 

 

01.11.2011 | by nadinesiegert | angola, Art, Bayreuth, exhibition, Iwalewa-Haus, trash anthology, yonamine

'Ordinary Rendition' / Peterson Kamwathi

Untitled Study, 2011Untitled Study, 2011

Peterson Kamwathi Waweru, born 1980 in Nairobi, has occupied himself for a long time with symbols and their meaning. In the exhibition he shows current drawings, woodcarving and graffiti, negotiating the historical, social and psychological mechanisms of conditioning and manipulation not only in his own society.

There is also a new publication - a cooperation with the Goethe-Institut and Verlag fuer Moderne Kunst Nürnberg, edited by J. Hossfeld and U. Vierke.

Exhibition from 27.11.11 to 04.03.12

Iwalewa-Haus, University of Bayreuth, Germany

 

 

 

01.11.2011 | by nadinesiegert | Africa, Art, Bayreuth, exhibition, Iwalewa-Haus, Kenya, Peterson Kamwathi

'Not in the title' / Sam Hopkins

Not in the title / photocollage 2011Not in the title / photocollage 2011

Sam Hopkins´ installation „Not in the title“ is inspired by Nigerian and Ghanaian horror movies from the collection of the Iwalewa-Haus. A selection of these movies is shown in the original version mixed with manipulated sequences that are integrated digitally. The installation asks about authenticity and searches for the reception of global artworks in a local context.

Sam Hopkins lives in Nairobi (Kenya). His art is concerned with public space and interactivity. Examples are the media collective Slum TV and Urban Mirror Nairobi.

Exhibition from 27-11-11 / 04-03-12

Iwalewa-Haus, University of Bayreuth, Germany

 

 

 

01.11.2011 | by nadinesiegert | Africa, Art, exhibition, Kenya, Nigeria, Nollywood, Sam Hopkins

IWALEWA-HAUS Archive Laboratory Utopia

In October 2011 Iwalewa-Haus celebrates its 30th anniversary - a motive to reflect, celebrate, critically discuss, experiment, imagine and visualize under the headlines of archive, laboratory and utopia. Exhibitions, a workshop and program take place in that context to present the past, present and future of Iwalewa-Haus.

The focal point of the archive tells the history of Iwalewa-Haus with the exhibitions ”Spuren - 30 Jahre Iwalewa-Haus’ and ‘Visions d’ailleurs’. In the laboratory we show three projects developed in the context of short time artist residencies by three young artists from Kenya and Angola. Finally utopia considers the future of Iwalewa-Haus. In an international workshop we discuss important topics such as local and international cooperations, museum pedagogics, teaching and research, exhibition and publication practises and the artist in residence program.

 

Iwalewa-Haus, University of Bayreuth, Germany.

 

 

01.11.2011 | by nadinesiegert | Africa, Art, exhibition

INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP - New Spaces for Negotiating Art (and) History in African Cities

CFP: INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP
New Spaces for Negotiating Art (and) History in African Cities
March 14-17, 2012 Point Sud, Centre for Research on Local Knowledge, Bamako, Mali Deadline: October 31, 2011

Prof. Dr. Kerstin Pinther, Art Historical Department, Arts of Africa, Free University Berlin Dr. Larissa Förster, Center for Advanced Studies “Morphomata. Genesis, Dynamics and Mediality of Cultural Figurations”, University of Cologne

In most African countries, cultural institutions like museums and art galleries, archives and art academies were established either by the colonial state or in the context of postcolonial nation building. Hence, the cultural field has often been shaped according to national aesthetics and/or thematic concepts and guidelines. Although many artists and activists have repeatedly criticized and distanced themselves from state-initiated cultural politics – as, for example, community archives and community art centres in Apartheid South Africa or initiatives like the “Laboratoire Agit-Art” in post-independence Senegal – from early on, it seems that particularly during the last two decades a series of new spaces and initiatives were created. They set themselves apart from municipal and/or state-affiliated institutions as well as from commercial (art) markets and created alternative models and platforms for negotiating art (and) history, reflecting upon and archiving art, visual culture and (cultural) history. Cases in point are the Contemporary Image Collective (Cairo), Doula’art (Douala), the District Six Museums (Cape Town) or Zoma Contemporary Art Centre (Addis Ababa), to name but a few.
Some of these initiatives aim to establish self-organized, non-hegemonic and experimental fields and orders of knowledge, others deliberately question institutions established by the postcolonial nation state, still others attempt at filling in where public institutions are undermined. In many cases, scholars, cultural practitioners, curators and artists as well as activists join to collaborate in these spaces. New forms of south-south- cooperation and transnational networking – including diasporic communities – are developed. This inter- and transdisciplinary workshop intends to take these independent spaces and initiatives as a starting point to discuss and analyze the expanding and diversifying field of cultural production and reflection in African cities.
We invite scholars and practitioners (founders, members and users of such spaces as well as artists and curators) to present case studies or comparative analyses with one or more of the following (research) focuses:
1) Histories
Against which historical backgrounds must the emergence of such spaces be read in different countries? How did they develop in different fields (art, culture, history), and in which ways are their histories connected?
2) Modi operandi: approaches, (curatorial) practices and strategies
How are these spaces organized and maintained? What curatorial practices, scientific and/or aesthetic strategies do they employ? Which media do they work with?3) Addressing and archiving the past
How do they reflect upon history? How and to what end do they acquire and work with (historical) collections and build (historical) archives?
4) Questioning canons
In what ways do such spaces comment on or even question canons of historical and art historical knowledge, e.g. established historical narratives or boundaries between art and (popular) culture etc.? Which theoretical and/or methodological debates do they draw upon or feed their work into?
5) Urban spaces and urban publics
How do these sites relate to the specific urban spaces and situations in which they have emerged? How do they engage with the broader urban public, with different audiences and groups of interested users and/or contributors? How do they affect the access and use of public space in African cities?
6) Revisiting state and municipal institutions
How do these initiatives position themselves vis-à-vis, relate to or collaborate with municipal or national institutions?
At the end of the workshop, possibilities and perspectives for a long-term cooperation between the workshop participants in the field of African Studies, Visual Culture Studies, Art History, Museum and Archive Studies will be explored. A publication of the workshop proceedings is envisaged.
We particularly encourage younger scholars and practitioners to submit a short CV and an abstract of no more than 500 words by October 31, 2011 to kerstin.pinther@fu-berlin.de and larissa.foerster@uni-koeln.de. Papers can be given in English or French. Contributors to the workshop will be asked to additionally chair one of the resulting 6 panels. Keynotes will be given by five invited speakers (t.b.a.) and will partly focus on alternative spaces in other regions than Africa. The project, which runs under the name “Programme Point Sud” of the German Research Foundation, will cover travel expenses and accommodation for all speakers.

22.09.2011 | by joanapires | african cities, Art, workshop

Between Art and Anthropology - Contemporary Ethnographic Practice

Between Art and Anthropology provides new and challenging arguments for considering contemporary art and anthropology in terms of fieldwork practice. Artists and anthropologists share a set of common practices that raise similar ethical issues, which the authors explore in depth for the first time.

The book presents a strong argument for encouraging artists and anthropologists to learn directly from each other’s practices ‘in the field’. It goes beyond the so-called ‘ethnographic turn’ of much contemporary art and the ‘crisis of representation’ in anthropology, in productively exploring the implications of the new anthropology of the senses, and ethical issues, for future art-anthropology collaborations.

The contributors to this exciting volume consider the work of artists such as Joseph Beuys, Suzanne Lacy, Marcus Coates, Cameron Jamie, and Mohini Chandra. With cutting-edge essays from a range of key thinkers such as acclaimed art critic Lucy R. Lippard, and distinguished anthropologists George E. Marcus and Steve Feld, Between Art and Anthropology will be essential reading for students, artists and scholars across a number of fields.

Arnd Schneider is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oslo. Christopher Wright is Lecturer in Anthropology at Goldsmiths College, University of London.

27.08.2010 | by martalanca | Anthropology, Art