Whose Biennale is it anyway?
The theme for this year’s Venice Biennale, the ‘olympics of the art world’ is ‘Foreigners Everywhere.’ But beyond representation, what are the barriers to participation?
Art
House of stone
Roy Guthrie was a refrigerator salesman in South Africa before he moved to Zimbabwe and established its largest sculpture park.
When paintings are dreams
The vivid imagery of Zimbabwean artist Portia Zvavahera touches powerfully on themes such as womanhood, religion and spirituality.
African digital culture in context
How might a longer view of African art-making affect our understanding of what counts as art, text, and authorship?
Robocop and Bin Laden in Uganda
In Kampala, Nasser Road has become an iconic site of entrepreneurial printing, most famously, its ubiquitous posters of notorious political figures like Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden.
Spirit of a nation
Leila Aboulela’s historical novel of nineteenth century Sudan tells the story of one of Africa’s first successful, anticolonial uprisings.
An annual awakening
In the 1980s, the South African arts collective Vakalisa Art Associates reclaimed time as a tool of social control through their subversive calendars.
Outside the field of African art
Asking whether white people should curate African art anymore, may be outdated. Instead we should ask: what is African art now and does the category matter anymore?
Put your crown on your head
A new exhibit of Jean-Michel Basquiat's life and work explores the influences of his family and the African world on his visual sensibilities and identity.
The beginning is always the body
The artist, Frida Orupabo, explores the social world around her via her large collages. Curator, Elvira Dyangani Ose, spoke to her about her work.
The body in flight
The 14th edition of the Dakar Biennale puts up the first significant survey of Senegalese artist El Hadji Sy’s work in the city.
Milking the dream
The 2022 Venice Biennale shows that despite the lack of investment from African nations or the occasional hijacking by mercenary curators, African artists are finding ways to be seen.
Colonial Vice at the Venice Biennale
At the world’s most prestigious art exhibition, all is not well when it comes to relative newcomers from the African continent.
Art and the struggle for Ambazonia
Artist Adjani Okpu-Egbe, interrogates sovereignty and solidarity in southwest Cameroon, for what is known as Ambazonia, and beyond.
The art of football
Why should people be invested in a football game in a bubble called the art world? “Exhibition Match,” a multifaceted installation, explores responses to this question.
Against a willing amnesia
Two books, by art historian Bénédicte Savoy and journalist Barnaby Phillips respectively, detail how we got to this point in the restitution of African heritage.
Story maps of no location
Julie Mehretu, an Ethiopian-American painter, defies expectations that artists of color should produce representational work.
International thief thief
There can no longer be false justifications for holding Benin Bronzes, and other pilfered materials, in museums outside of Africa.
Exile is more than a geographical concept
Episode #39 of AIAC Talk is about exile: a new film on a Libyan dissident and a new exhibition on the black experience. Watch it live Tuesday on YouTube.
Is the future of African auteur cinema streaming?
Imagine if African films could enjoy shooting and editing on the continent, uninhibited by national and international politics.