Exhibitions

Being and Becoming: Complexities of the African Identity is still on view at Unisa Art Gallery in Pretoria, South Africa until June 25, 2016

Currently in its 5th year, the Kauru Contemporary African Art project continues to promote cultural diversity and stimulate discourse in Africa and internationally about issues affecting the continent using contemporary visual arts as a medium of engagement. The exhibition features works by some of the most prominent video and photography artists from Africa and the African diaspora including Yinka Shonibare, Lerato Shadi, Kudzanai Chiurai, Louis Kakudji, Nástio Mosquito, Mario Macilau, Helen Zeru and more. Being and Becoming is an exhibition of video and photography which examine the material and conceptual complexities of the African identity with themes interrogating race, gender, class, access, intersectionality, transformation, and transcendence. The themes addressed in the exhibition are topical in the public imagination, not only in the political realm but also within the creative sectors around Africa, engaging the historical and political context of the identity formation.

Pieter Hugo: 1994 is still on view at Stevenson in Cape Town, South Africa until July 16, 2016

Pieter Hugo is a South African photographic artist living in Cape Town, whose work has been exhibited internationally and published in several photographic books that have been critically acclaimed. In this sixth solo exhibition presented by the Stevenson gallery, Pieter Hugo captures the portraits of children born in the aftermath of apartheid in South Africa and genocide in Rwanda. These major historical events which took place both in 1994, set the context for this new series depicting a generation of children growing up in a post-revolutionary era, when the possibility of change was definite while its realisation remains uncertain. The portraits were mostly taken in villages around the two countries and show off the thin line between nature as idyllic and a place of terror. For the lauded photographer, 1994 is a tableau that raises questions around history and post-conflict narratives as well as the portrayal of children in fractured and transitional times.

Seydou Keïta is still on view at Grand Palais in Paris, France until July 11, 2016

This exhibition is the first large retrospective which brings together nearly 300 photographs signed by Seydou Keïta. The Malian photographer specialised in portrait commissions, which he took mainly using a 13x18 lens, with a preference for natural light. Since the paper was expensive and difficult to find, he occasionally produced 30×40 prints at the request of some wealthy clients. Seydou Keïta loved photography and wanted to give his clients the most beautiful image possible. The value he placed on his subjects, his masterful composition and use of light, and the modernity and creativity of his scenes brought him immense success. His work, which covers a relatively short period, provides an unrivalled testimony of the changes in Malian urban society, which emancipated itself from tradition and aspired to a certain level of modernity, with decolonisation underway and independence approaching. Today, Seydou Keïta is considered one of the great photographers of the second half of the twentieth century, amongst famous portraitists such as Richard Avedon or August Sander.

Art Fairs

Art Basel 2016 will open at several locations in Basel, Switzerland from June 16 to 19, 2016

This month, Art Basel will stage the 47th edition of its show in Basel, the world’s premier art fair for modern and contemporary art. The show will feature more than 280 international galleries displaying works by more than 4,000 artists, ranging from Modern great masters to current emerging stars. The exhibitors will be divided into several sectors, including Edition for prints and limited-edition artwork, Feature for curatorial projects, and Statements which focuses on new galleries showing emerging artists. As always, the heart of the fair will be the massive galleries sector, this year featuring 280 dealers, including eight first-time exhibitors, six of whom are graduating from the Statements and Feature sectors. The fair will present a full program of talks each day, while cultural institutions from Basel and the region will offer exhibitions and events, creating an exciting week of art.

Auctions

Origins & Trajectories, Contemporary Art from Africa and the African Diaspora auction will be open at Piasa, Paris, France on June 9, 2016

Origins & Trajectories will highlight the creative diversity of artists from Africa or of African origin. Reflecting on the Afropolitan notion that migration (be it forced or voluntary) and nomadic tradition have helped shape contemporary African identity, the auction will showcase artistic practices inspired by the history of the African continent, and their interpretation in an increasingly globalized world. The works selected for auction will show how artists deal with their own lives and identities, and how they treat such topical issues as the environment and the movement of goods and people. The auction will not be organized geographically or chronologically, but will explore the themes of identity, female representation, environment, and the movement of goods and people. Two works from Pascal Kenfack will be available at the auction and can be viewed in the catalog of the auction here and there.