It’s Black History Month and Frieze London in the UK which means an overwhelming amount of cultural happenings all taking place within a very short space of time. If the global North could just agree that Black history is world history unbound by a designated month then things would be a lot less complicated, but alas here we are. I’m going to keep it as succinct as possible to try and fit everything in but be forewarned, this one is a bit of a bumper edition.
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LISTEN
Epic jazz supergroup Balimaya Project released their album Wolo So earlier this month. Their sound is an exhilarating West African diasporic fusion that combines, at its heart, traditional Senegalese rhythms with energetic contemporary UK jazz. The result is a joyous celebration of community, heritage and self-discovery, all themes that are discussed in this mini-documentary commissioned to mark the album launch.
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WATCH
I had the absolute pleasure of meeting and learning from some of the original 1980s Venice Beach skaters last month (if you didn’t know I’m currently going through a bit of roller skating moment). At the time I was completely unaware of the impact they’d had on skating culture and in particular its game-changing fusion with dance.
The beautiful and challenging origins of their story along with the subsequent violent gentrification and whitewashing they were subjected to are captured in the incredible 2017 documentary Roller Dreams which is available to watch on Youtube for a fee of £1.49.
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VISIT
There are A LOT of great exhibitions in London at the moment many of which also include online viewing rooms and virtual tours if you’re not in a position to visit them in person (a positive side effect of the pandemic?). Here is a non-exhaustive list for your h’enjoyment, all the titles are hyperlinks that take you directly to the relevant exhibition pages:
Bold Black British @ Christie’s London
Curated by rising star Aindrea Emelife this exhibition brings together a succinct collection of cross-generational works ranging from Sonia Boyce to emerging voices such as Emily Moore.
If you can’t attend in person, there’s a virtual tour however, if you can make it, I would recommend taking time to see REDEFINING THE TREND - Histories in the Making also located at Christie’s. Presented by contemporary African art fair 1-54, the show interrogates ‘how new artistic practices from Africa and the diaspora contribute to the defining of present aesthetics, discourses, and creative processes.’1
In Pursuit of Flow: Adébayo Bolaji @ UH Arts and Culture
I’ve been wanting to see Adébayo Bolaji’s work in the flesh for a long time so I’m really excited about this one. The textured paintings created primarily during lockdown interrogate the dialogue between his Nigerian heritage and home city of London.
Somewhere Between Here and There: Rita Keegan @ South London Gallery
Despite being a pioneer of the British Black Arts Movement of the 1980s this is Keegan’s first solo exhibition in over 15 years. The work on show spans new media such as digital collages alongside paintings and textiles all responding to themes of female identity adjacent to politics, memory and self-definition.
Royal Academy Summer Exhibition @ Royal Academy
An unprecedented number of artists typically excluded by the gatekeepers of the higher echelons of the art world have had their work selected for the 2021 edition of the prestigious Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. Coordinated by Yinka Shonibare CBE RA, the list includes but is not limited to, emerging creatives from the global majority, neurodivergent artists and those working with mediums and processes often attributed to crafts. The highlight is a central wall dedicated to the work of Bill Traylor, an American artist born into slavery that first began drawing at the age of 85.
Here are a couple more suggestions if you truly want to pack out your gallery visiting diary:
We are History @ Somerset House - Curator Ekow Eshun joins the dots between colonialism and the climate crisis in this group exhibition.
Eastern African Encounters @ Cromwell Place - A group show celebrating contemporary talent from Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and Tanzania that has yet to receive recognition in the West.
The Space Between Us: Nirit Takele @ Addis Fine Art - The Ethiopian gallery celebrates the opening of their expanded London outpost with this solo presentation of paintings by Ethiopian-Israeli artist Nirit Takele.
Lazarus: Ibrahim Mahama @ White Cube, Bermondsey - This is Ibrahim Mahama’s third solo with White Cube and includes some pretty arresting installations inspired by the neglected architecture of post-independence Ghana.
Gestures from the Awakened Mind: Kimathi Mafafo @ Kristin Hjellegjerde - South African artist Kimathi Mafafo celebrates Black female empowerment with a collection of new textile works.
Social Works II @ Gagosian - Considering the relationship between geography and identity, curator Antwaun Sergent reframes the sequel to the New York variation of this group exhibition for a British gaze.
Armour @ HOME by Ronan McKenzie - Black-owned and artist-led space HOME presents Armour, an exhibition of eleven Black British designers in an immersive installation honouring garment, craft, and design.
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READ
African Artists from 1882 to Now is a beautifully designed anthology of over 300 modern and contemporary artists born or based in Africa. Created in collaboration with a prestigious global advisory board, it’s one of the few and certainly one of the most substantial attempts at cataloguing and contextualising the stars of the growing African art market.
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LISTEN
Last month art historian Katy Hessel interviewed one of my favourite sculptors, Leilah Babirye, for her long-standing podcast series The Great Women Artists. Born in Uganda, Babirye studied at Kampala’s Makerere University before travelling to New York to complete the prestigious Fire Island Artist Residency.
Her move came shortly after the implementation of the Anti-Homosexuality Act in Uganda and, as a result, she was granted asylum in the US in 2018. Despite this, her work, often ambitious in scale and transformative in its treatment of materials, remains a fierce and unwavering love letter to her heritage and home country.
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What I’m Listening To…
Congrats if you made it this far, I’m signing off with the ambient and soulful sound of Sola’s new track Feels Like a War.
Magda xxx
https://www.christies.com/exhibitions/1-54-contemporary-african-art#explore_Nav