Exhibitions

Time, the Perfect Muse is still on view at DADA Gallery in London, United Kingdom until April 17, 2022

Emily Moore and Hamed Maiye come together to question one of mankind’s most intriguing concepts – time. They do this through the interrogation of the process of story-making that creates what is known as the past. They question invisibility and malleability as it relates to time, drawing a link to ancestral memory and instinctive language as they explore a range of mediums and techniques which feel both new and familiar. Through this collaborative exhibition, they aim to create imaginative work as a means of recovering suppressed histories, through an understanding of the practices of generations preceding them. Through various conversations around their practices and by drawing inspiration from literature such as the invisible man and David Hammons: Rousing the Rubble, both artists go on to question the idea of being a muse, through the lens of the influence they both have on each other in the making of works for the exhibition.

Helina Metaferia: All Put Together is still on view at Praise Shadows Art Gallery in Brookline, United States until April 17, 2022

In this multifaceted presentation, the artist draws from her interdisciplinary practice to emphasize narratives centered on social engagement. Her process, rooted in the archives and history of activism in the United States, is simultaneously focused on contemporary BIPOC women, all of whom are directly involved with the artist through performance-as-protest workshops. Her work brings to the forefront untold, or unheralded, stories. Using a diverse range of media, including collage, video, sculpture, installation, and performance, All Put Together reminds us that progress, or the labor in pushing for progress, is never linear. It is power, it is vulnerability. It is failure, and it is success. Where we are today is the culmination of this work and through Metaferia’s meticulously rendered collage portraits, or through her sensory-filled performances, we are made aware of the presence of the bodies who have spoken out, marched, and held signs in protest.

Bruce Bennett: Easy when the Love don’t hide is still on view at Baxter St in New York, United States until April 30, 2022

For his New York debut, Bennett turns his lens on his relationship to celebrate the inherent magic of Black Love. This intimate exploration at the intersection of identity – including race, gender, sexuality and socio economics, takes viewers into Bennett’s home and the natural landscapes where his love first blossomed. Easy When the Love Don’t Hide affirms how alive, thriving, and whole Black Love can be. The striking images made expressly for this presentation celebrate the resilience and endurance of Black pride identity as defined by Bennett, an artist whose self-discovery journey started by embracing the intimacy and kindness that love requires. The exhibition is the culmination of Bennett’s participation in a mission-aligned YoungArts | Baxter St Residency Program, a multi-year partnership between the two organizations to support, mentor, and diversify the next generation of lens-based artists.

Art Fairs

1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair will open at Christie’s in Paris, France from April 7-10, 2022

1-54 Paris at Christie’s will take place in the auction house’s galleries at Avenue Matignon and will feature 23 international exhibitors presenting more than 50 artists from Africa and the African diaspora. Taking over more exhibition space and hosting a greater number of galleries, the fair will be a larger event than last year’s in Paris, with both VIP and public days to engage with new and existing audiences. The fair will also be accompanied by 1-54 Forum, the fair’s multi-disciplinary programme of talks, screenings, performances, workshops, and readings, with more details to be announced at a later date.

Screenings

Learning from Africa will take place within the 68th International Short Film Festival in Oberhausen, Germany from April 30 to May 9, 2022

Filmmaking on the African continent is the same as everywhere else, only under tougher conditions. Every finished film was like a miracle, the Burkinabe filmmaker Idrissa Ouédraogo (1954-2018) once commented. It is these conditions that have given rise to an entrepreneurial and artistic inventiveness that could be a model for Western countries, too. In its Theme programme “Synchronize! Pan-African Film Networks”, the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen follows exactly these processes. Rather than a “best of” of pan-African cinema, it is a demonstration of its variety, distinctive characteristics and unique production processes.