Unseen Art Scene (mirror)

A visionary modernist Source:  http://www.newafricanmagazine.com/special-reports/other-reports/154-contemporary-african-art-fair/a-visionary-modernist One of the Sudan’s greatest cultural ambassadors, the majestic Ibrahim El-Salahi, is also one of the continent’s greatest contemporary artists, as Beverly Andrews discovered at a recent one-man show. 1:54  reports The Sudan has a rich history which dates back to antiquity where its fortunes were very much intertwined with that of ancient Egypt. The country was in ancient times the home of the great Nubian and Kush empires but much of the Sudan’s contemporary history has been mired in conflict. Two successive civil wars have plunged the region into armed chaos but with the peaceful succession of South Sudan there are now hopes that the country can once again be celebrated for its rich cultural life, and Ibrahim El-Salahi is at the forefront of this renaissance. London’s prestigious Tate Modern is now playing host to a long overdue retrosp

New African 1:54 Special – Newfound Visibility Source:  http://1-54.com/newfound-visibility/ Posted on  29.09.2013 Abidjan   Congo   Côte d’Ivoire   Cotonou   Dae es Salaam   Dakar   Kinshasa   Lagos   Maputo Morocco   South Africa The art dealer  André Magnin  has played a pivotal role in the dissemination of African contemporary art outside Africa. In 1989, he co-curated the global art exhibition Magiciens de la terre in Paris, after which he became director of the well-known Pigozzi Collection for 20 years. In 2009 he founded  Magnin-A , his eponymous agency which represents a diverse array of artists including Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, Romuald Hazoumè, Chéri Samba, Kura Shomali and Billie Zangewa. He explains to  Olivier Coutau  how the African art market has evolved from a situation of relative non-existence in the 1990s to a situation of newfound visibility. Photo: Mart Engel Olivier Coutau:  You first gravitated towards Africa while investigating the continent for the exhibition,

White Mischief DEBATE Source:  http://www.frieze.com/issue/article/white_mischief/ Issue 7   November-December 1992 'Out of Africa' The story begins one day in 1989 when an idiosyncratic and disillusioned European art collector visits an exhibition. The artists have unpronounceable names, they speak in languages unknown to the collector’s ears and they live in distant locations which he cannot find on his big plastic globe. It is like no exhibition he has ever seen before and he falls in love with it. Unable to buy what he sees, which already belongs to a big corporation, the collector engages the services of a young curator. He sets him the task of researching and acquiring new art from the most exotic places in the world. Gradually the collector’s dream comes true and before long the young man has returned with hundreds of works by artists from Africa. Delighted with the marvels he has brought home, the collector proudly displays his treasures to his friends. An exhibition is