It has been a lit first month of 2021! As we move through the changed circumstances, timelines and spaces of now, we catch up on our monthly round-up of ‘other words’ we haven’t had out already on the site –… Read More ›
Visual Art and Artists
In other Words… AiW news and December’s wrap
Happy New Year! After a short break, we move through the changed circumstances, timelines and spaces of now, and catch up on our monthly round-up of ‘other words’ from the end of 2020 – news on AiW’s radar, collated from… Read More ›
Review of “Paul Mpagi Sepuya”: ‘between desired object and desiring subject’.
Sepuya’s portrait photography, described by the artist as ‘queer modernism’, disrupts the conventions of traditional studio portraiture, to become a site of homoerotic social relations: a space where the roles of artist and subject are constructed and contested. The book exposes Sepuya’s play with artifice and performance as it outlines the development of his visual practice, cataloguing how he uses his own body, and those of his intimate circle of friends and lovers, in ways which challenge notions of power and authorship. Deeply connected with the written word, he found in texts and literature a way to make sense of this ‘gap of language between desired object and desiring subject’ (p.14), the very gap in which his practice is located.
Creative Times “in the making”: unfolding the Keiskamma COVID-19 Tapestry of Resilience
AiW note: Posts over 5 days this week, have introduced the epic endeavour of the Keiskamma COVID-19 Resilience Tapestry being made by the Keiskamma Art Project in the rural hamlet of Hamburg, South Africa, through the place, the people –… Read More ›
Creative Times & Living Testimonies (3): “Changing everything” – Keiskamma artists on life, work, and the COVID-19 Tapestry of Resilience
AiW note: This week, we have been following and introducing the stories behind the Keiskamma COVID-19 Resilience Tapestry, an epic, ambitious response to the pandemic made by the Keiskamma Art Project in the rural hamlet of Hamburg, South Africa. As… Read More ›
Creative Times & Living Testimonies (2): “Connections are Strength” – Keiskamma artists on the COVID-19 Tapestry of Resilience
AiW note: Yesterday, as part of our Keiskamma COVID-19 Resilience Tapestry series, we introduced four artists from Keiskamma, leading on from Monday’s introduction to the work, which is currently underway. Today, in the second of our “meetings” posts with the… Read More ›
Creative Times & Living testimonies (1): Keiskamma artists on life and work, and the COVID-19 Tapestry of Resilience
AiW note: Our posts, running over 5 days this week, introduce the Keiskamma COVID-19 Resilience Tapestry through the place, the people – its makers – and their history. The ambitious tapestry, responding to the pandemic, is being made by the… Read More ›
Creative Times & A Season of Regeneration: Keiskamma Art Project’s Tapestry of Resilience – A Preface
AiW note: The Keiskamma Art Project, in the rural hamlet of Hamburg, South Africa, is embarking on an ambitious tapestry in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The next five posts will introduce the Keiskamma COVID-19 Resilience Tapestry through the place,… Read More ›
Review: The collector as compulsive mythologist – Wole Soyinka’s “Beyond Aesthetics”.
AiW Guest: Joseph Oduro-Frimpong. AiW note: With his review of Wole Soyinka’s book, Beyond Aesthetics: Use, Abuse, and Dissonance in African Art Traditions – “an intimate reflection on culture and tradition, creativity and power, that draws on a lifetime’s commitment to… Read More ›
Celebrating ‘The Decade Project’ with Brittle Paper: 10 AiW African Literary Cultural Faves
Literary blog and archiving platform Brittle Paper turns 10 this year! Happy birthday BP! This month we take up their invitation to join their celebrations in their #DecadeProject with a post marking the last ten years as a significant decade… Read More ›
Q&A: “Ceremony is always imbued with sound”: Composer Peter Adjaye on soundscaping Toyin Ojih Odutola’s ‘A Countervailing Theory’
Peter Adjaye is a contemporary conceptual sound artist, specialising in cross disciplinary collaborations. He is a musicologist, composer, DJ-producer and musician. His unique set of skills and vast experience have enabled him to work closely with his brother, the award-winning… Read More ›
Review: Physicality and Distortion in Dolla Sapeta’s ‘Skeptical Erections’
Mxolisi Dolla Sapeta is perhaps best known for his work as an artist and sculptor. In 2019, he made his literary debut with his first collection of poems, Skeptical Erections, published by Deep South. Reading Skeptical Erections makes it quickly… Read More ›
In other Words… AiW news and July’s wrap
As we move through the changed circumstances, timelines and spaces of now, we catch up on our monthly round-up of ‘other words’ – news on AiW’s radar, collated from across our Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Please be in touch with… Read More ›
Q&A: Words on the Times & Women leading in the arts – Carol Bouwer & Elana Brundyn of the Norval Foundation share their insights in a time of disruption.
“We must ensure that the women on our continent know that Elana Brundyn with her illustrious background in the art world, chose to attach her name as CEO to this great monument, and to serve with Nku Heita Nyembezi who… Read More ›
Words on the Times and a Past & (Everyone is) Present – Re-presenting Andrew van der Vlies’ review of Terry Kurgan’s “Everyone is Present”
AiW note: Yesterday, we published South African artist and photographer Terry Kurgan’s Words on the Times, an AiW Q&A set that offers a space for connection during the distancing measures necessitated by the coronavirus. In her responses, Kurgan discusses the copies… Read More ›
Q&A:Words on the Times – Terry Kurgan
Kurgan has achieved something rare in this book: a truly dynamic fusion of text and image. She brings a deep knowledge of craft to everyday images, whether she’s teasing fugitive meanings from a creased pre-war snapshot or taking the pulse… Read More ›
Event: CIAD’s 2nd Biennial Conference: Textiles and Fabrics as Material Culture in the African Diaspora (10 October)
The Costume Institute of the African Diaspora’s (CIAD) 2nd Biennial Conference London College of Fashion New date: 10 October, 2020 Bringing together academics and researchers from across the world who are working within the field of Material Culture, African Fashion,… Read More ›
Exhibition: Michael Armitage at Norval Foundation (South Africa, June 2020)
Norval Foundation brings rising Venice Biennale star Michael Armitage to South Africa At just 35, Kenyan artist Michael Armitage is swiftly emerging as one of the most exciting young voices of contemporary art, heralded as a stand-out artist at the… Read More ›
Exhibition: Toyin Ojih Odutola at Barbican, London (Until 26 July)
Toyin Ojih Odutola “A Countervailing Theory” Open now, and until 26 July 2020 Barbican Centre, London The first-ever UK exhibition by Nigerian-American artist Toyin Ojih Odutola, this epic cycle of new work will explore an imagined ancient myth, with an… Read More ›
Call for Applications: Africa Is A Country Fellowship
We are delighted to share the announcement of the inaugural Africa Is A Country Fellowship Program. The purpose of the Africa Is A Country (AIAC) Fellowship is to support the production of original work and new knowledge on Africa-related topics… Read More ›