Unseen Art Scene (mirror)

At a time when so many Africans are talking about Independence, I wanted to focus my attention on one of the greatest progressive leaders since Independence, Thomas Sankara. He was the man to change the name of his country from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso, which means the Land of the Incorruptibles or Land of the Honourable Men. He died in October 1987 at the age of 39 but his legacy lives on. Burkina commemorates slain leader President Captain Thomas Sankara Thomas Sankara was overthrown by the current president in Burkina Faso. H e was an extraordinary revolutionary leader but more importantly he was a man of the people; a decent guitarist who played in a band called, Tout-a-Coup Jazz and also rode motorbikes. "Our revolution in Burkina Faso draws on the totality of man's experiences since the first breath of humanity. We wish to be the heirs of all the revolutions of the world, of all the liberation struggles of the peoples of the Third World. We draw the lesso...

Graphic Artist: Stefan Sagmeister Country: Austria/US Title: Self-Confidence Produces Fine Results Materials: 7,200 Bananas and Glue Exhibition: Dietch Project 18-28, Wooster Road, NYC, New York 10013 USA Year: 2008 This style of art is known as "Conceptual Art". Although this show was exhibited in 2008, I thought it flagged up some interesting ideas with a rather imaginative material, bananas. This is a material that is in abundance in many parts of the Continent. The work should inspire artists to look outside the guidelines and parameters of traditional art forms. By using fruit or a live organism an artist can play with a number of human senses - the eyes and the nose. As the fresh display of bananas begin to decay, the viewer is able to make out the impressions of the design around the wall and the lettering. The artist has ingeniously placed bananas on the wall at different degrees of ripeness; these were strategically put into place at the start.  The conception of fru...

What is complicated in today's society globally, is the way in which media of all kinds, be in music, dance, literature or International politics are effecting our every day - so much is effecting all of us that to define ourselves correctly becomes ever increasingly difficult; no more so than the Independent countries of Africa. So many people out in the villages are unfamiliar with the culture of the cities and are beginning to be rejected. Not in a good way more that they are being left behind. Left in a world of wilderness to the point of alienation. I think this is what is called being marginalised but I'll look it up. This is an issue I would like to tackle but it would be easier if the issue was tackled collectively. Here's a song that is sung by the original artist and danced by slightly more modern icon.

Recently, I been thinking about African American artists and specifically the success of the Harlem Renaissance. This is an American Art Movement, which was created in 1920's to 1930's and was the precursor to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 1960's. An artist from the early days was the Jazz singer Ethel Waters The Movement stretched across numerous areas of the arts including painting, music, dance and literature. Initially, we should try to understand the philosophy behind the Movement, which outlined a clear mission statement and has become what we now know as, professional Africana philosophy. This philosophy had its roots in the search for identity. Black writers of the late 1800s and early 1900s intellectually shaped the emergence of the civil rights movement, which sought to remedy the evils of social segregation; political disfranchisement; economic exploitation and cultural discrimination of the black people of America and Africa. In his Race and St...

Introduction: Previously, I have written on this blog about the importance of being a feral artist; a reject and anti-establishment. Over the years I have attempted to find artists and artworks that are progressive and trying to push the boundaries of art. It is clear that Africa's horizons have broadened of late and those that were rejected yesterday are slowly but surely, becoming acceptable today. I have come to understand that life is a constant flow of rejection and acceptance and with that in mind, it seem irrelevant to be playing into the hands of the establishment, rather the opposite and aim to be rejected for now and wait for a time that will accept your ideology. An artist must take risks and occasionally step off the path and listen to his/her intuition but also not be too stubborn to take guidance from others. A great deal of my inspiration has come from Ari Up and the Slits. This is a band of sisters who have really made a difference to the world and with limited accl...

I found this on the Internet via Youtube and it really made me think about the way in which the black man is portrayed in society. What is needed is more positive imagery and a progressive mindset. We must look towards the American Civil Rights Movement and start to reshape our thinking. To seek out the positive and the progressive and to build on the efforts made. America's culture is based around the cowboy and Hollywood and the film industry or elaborate musicals on Broadway. This can't be the culture worldwide as each country of Africa is unique in it's development and what represents the country. Kenya is a great example as the tourist industry has played an enormous role in it's shaping of the country. The colour of Kenya is like a rainbow with animals, white hunters and Maasai worriers with bows and arrows. A similar history of cowboys and indians can be recorded by film directors of Kenya in regards to the British vs the Kenyans but unlike America the Kenyans wo...

A Rake's Progress,  Tavern Scene c.1735 London, Sir John Soan's Museum Heads of Six of Hogarth's Servants c.1750-1755  London,Tate Gallery Dr Gus Casely-Hayford shows how our sense of identity was changed forever by the most distinctively British artist this country has ever produced: William Hogarth. Until the 18th century, the only vision of Britishness that was available in our art was for and about the toffs. But in the 18th century a revolution occurred: a revolution in ink and paint rather than blood. For the very first time, it was possible to look at our art and see people who are identifiably 'us'. It's all thanks to Hogarth. No other artist looked at Britain in the way that Hogarth did. There's no one in the art of Europe like him. Hogarth was born poor in London, to whose teeming streets he turned for inspiration throughout his life. Hogarth's London, by far the biggest city in Europe, was not only a great subject for the artist; it was the cr...

Stacey Dooley looks into the child labour issue surrounding the cocoa industry in the Ivory Coast. These are the main countries where Cadbury's, Rowntree and Hershey's source their cocoa from. The striking thing about this documentary is that it seems to have unknowingly, open up a can of worms. Numerous uncomfortable questions should be raised to Cadbury's and all the other chocolate companies. Maybe we should look elsewhere and more at those who are behind the Chocolate Companies: the Quaker Movement. The issues of child abuses and exploitation should really fall on the table of the Quaker Movement Worldwide, which has been largely funded for generations by chocolate money. Joseph Rowntree, John Cadbury and Milton Hershey are all Quakers, so in effect, this religious movement has all but solely been funded by money from child labour of West Africa. What is more concering is that the other famous groups, whose Founders are known Quakers have turned a blind-eye to these rat...

As I look closer into works of art being created in West Africa and in other parts of Southern Africa, I am beginning to see similarities to various artists of recent times. One such artist is Max Ernst, whose work is similar to many artists I know, especially from the Anglophone countries of Africa; such as Ghana; the Gambia; Zambia and Nigeria. Take a look:

Gallery: Ed Cross Fine Art, The Hive Projects, 20 Buckle Street, London E1 8EH Dates & Times: October 20th – November 20th 2010 Wednesday – Sunday, 12pm – 6pm Open until 9pm for First Thursdays on November Peterson Kamwathi (b.1980) is one of Kenya's leading visual artists. His powerful works are created in response to specific national and global socio‐economic and political phenomena. Sitting Allowance Series by Peterson Kamwathi | Charcoal on Paper | 2009 Events such as the botched 2007 Kenyan General Elections that brought the country to the brink of civil war and the long and tortuous process of establishing a new post‐colonial constitution. In his new "queue" works, the artist explores the meaning of queues in varying local and international contexts from Guantanamo Bay prisoners to Kenyans waiting patiently in line to cast their votes. The works are devoid of narcissism. Kamwathi's motivation flows from a sense of belonging and duty to his society and wider...

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bakoji/122314031156735?ref=mf His work is worth discussing as he brings colour, technique and an honesty back to Contemporary African art.

Palmer Hayden, Untitled (The Carousel Wharf) (detail) (n.d., signed lower right, watercolor on paper, 18 x 23 ¾ in.) http://www.cwow.org/see/feature.php?f_id=284&s_id=2&c_id= THIS THURSDAY: Two watercolors by Palmer Hayden, the famous Harlem Renaissance artist, will be included in Swann Galleries, Inc.African-American Fine Art Auction on October 7, 2010 starting at 2:30p.m. at 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010 (212-254-4710). Palmer Hayden, Untitled (The Carousel Wharf) (detail) (n.d., signed lower right, watercolor on paper, 18 x 23 ¾ in.) OCTOBER 7, 2010: PALMER HAYDEN AUCTION Two watercolors by Palmer Hayden, the famous Harlem Renaissance artist, will be included in Swann Galleries, Inc. African-American Fine Art Auction on October 7, 2010 starting at 2:30 p.m. at 104 East 25th Street, New York, NY 10010 (212-254-4710). The Benny Andrews Foundation, Inc. of Litchfield, Connecticut donated the original, signed watercolors entitled Girl with Cat and Untitled (The Carous...