African culture: appointments in April 2024
In Bonnieux, Berlin, Paris, Nîmes, Chaumont-sur-Loire, Kampala, Meaux, Bordeaux, Montreal, Troyes, Venice, Abidjan, London, Hamburg... indoors or outdoors, here are 20 events of Afro or African event not to be missed in April 2024. Do not hesitate to send us your next “unmissable” cultural events to rfipageculture@yahoo.fr.
“Chickens for Sale 2 (Call Now 0735 570829)” (2023), 120 x 90 x 4 cm, work by Zimbabwean artist Gareth Nyandoro, shown as part of the exhibition “Pfumvudza” at the Tiwani Contemporary gallery, from April 23 to June 15, 2024. © Gareth Nyandoro / Tiwani Contemporary
By: Siegfried Forster Follow
Advertisement
Read more
The Blachère Foundation, “
Africa’s first contemporary art foundation
”, is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The new
Bandiagara
exhibition embodies its philosophy of supporting and disseminating contemporary creation from Africa and its diaspora. It was in front of the cliffs of Bandiagara, in the Dogon country of Mali, that Jean-Paul Blachère developed a visceral interest in Africa. From April 4, the foundation promises, at Bonnieux station, a still journey in the company of 20 artists from its collection, today considered major references in the art scene.
The cultural institution Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin, Germany, is currently presenting
Echoes of Brotherly Countries. Visions and illusions of anti-imperialist solidarity
. Between 1949 and 1990, hundreds of thousands of people migrated to the GDR from countries including Algeria, Angola, Chile, Guinea-Bissau, Cuba, Mozambique, Syria and Vietnam. Their stories have often gone untold.
The work of Malian artist
Amahiguéré Dolo
(1955-2022) is honored from April 4 to 27 at the Parisian gallery Christophe Person.
Dolo, the Dogon of the Century
, the first solo show since the artist's death, shows "
the breadth of his work, on the border of animism and surrealism
". Sculptures on wood, previously unpublished works on paper, paintings on canvas… His work is considered unique in the history of contemporary African art. “
A native of the cradle of Dogon culture, defying the prohibitions due to his caste, he determinedly followed his destiny as a creator.
»
►
Subscribe for free to the RFI CULTURE NEWSLETTER
Presenting an extract of today's art throughout the city is the promise of La
Contemporaine de Nîmes
, a new triennial of contemporary creation. The inaugural edition, presented from April 5 to June 23, is entitled
A New Youth
and brings together several dozen recognized and emerging artists from the French and international scene: Mohamed Bourouissa, Alassan Diawara, Aïda Bruyère, Zineb Sedira, Ali Cherri …
The Parisian gallery Magnin-A has just opened the first solo exhibition of historical works by
Moke
(1950-2001). Like Chéri Samba and Chéri Chérin, he is among the “popular artists” who began in the 1960s to revolutionize art and chronicle contemporary Congolese life in Kinshasa.
“Greenhouse Trellising” (2023), 300 x 230 cm, work by Zimbabwean artist Gareth Nyandoro, shown as part of the “Pfumvudza” exhibition at the Tiwani Contemporary gallery, from April 23 to June 15, 2024. © Gareth Nyandoro / Tiwani Contemporary
The Domaine de Chaumont-sur-Loire wanted to get closer to the spirit of the Bomarzo Gardens, “
with a few monsters and some madness, fantastic characters, emerging from the world of tales or mythology
”. Among the invited artists is
Pascale Marthine Tayou
. The Cameroonian visual artist invests the Château with chandeliers suspended in the Bee Barn: “
Magnificence of nature hybridized with the waste materials of humanity.
»
What relationship did Arab artists have with Paris in the 20th century? From April 5, the Paris Museum of Modern Art (MAM) is hosting the
Arab Presences exhibition. Modern art and decolonization. Paris 1908-1988
. An invitation to rediscover the diversity of Arab modernities in the 20th century and to renew the historical perspective on artistic scenes that are still little known in Europe.
Form and Fantasy
, promises Afri Art Gallery. Presented in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, the exhibition explores the intersections between figurative and formal abstraction and the realm of the imagination. Among the artists whose works blur the boundaries between reality and the subconscious: Kaleab Abate, Daniel Atenyi, Kidane Getaw, Selome Muleta, Sherie Margaret Ngigi, Emmie Nume.
In 1914, the French colonial empire, built up over more than four centuries, extended into Africa, Indochina, the Indian Ocean (Madagascar, Reunion), Oceania and the Pacific, on the Somali Coast and in West Indies. Colonies and protectorates bring together a population of 41 million inhabitants. The
Fighting Far From Home
exhibition , at the Museum of the Great War in Meaux, explores from April 6 the history and memories of the former colonies to better understand the contemporary world.
The Institut des Afriques presents, on April 10 at 8:30 p.m. at the Cinéma Utopia Bordeaux, a screening-debate in tribute to the victims of the Tutsi genocide:
Rwanda, towards the apocalypse
,
by Michaël Sztanke, Maria Malagardis and Seamus Haley. The documentary tells how a Rwandan elite transformed Rwanda into a theater of absolute horror. “
With a unique perspective, the film exposes the controversial role of France, protector of the architects of this catastrophe.
» The film will be followed by an exchange with Maria Malagardis, co-director of the film, and the Franco-Rwandan writer Beata Umubyeyi Mairesse.
“Chickens for Sale 1 (Call Now 0735 570829)” (2024), 120 x 92 x 4 cm, work by Zimbabwean artist Gareth Nyandoro, shown as part of the exhibition “Pfumvudza” at the Tiwani Contemporary gallery, from April 23 to June 15, 2024. © Gareth Nyandoro / Tiwani Contemporary
The Vues d'Afrique
International Film Festival
will take place from April 11 to 21 in Montreal. The comedy
Marabout Chéri
by Luis Marquès and Khady Touré, a huge public success when it was released in Ivory Coast and other African countries, opens the 40th edition. 140 films from 43 countries are programmed, including 16 world premieres.
On April 16, the
Troyes Museum of Modern Art
celebrates its reopening. The new route also takes into account its collection of African and Oceanian art, showing the dialogue between these arts and Western artists in the 20th century.
The
60th Venice Biennale
promises to be very African. Beyond the first pavilion from Benin, the flagship contemporary art event will also host, from April 20, highly anticipated pavilions from Nigeria and Morocco. Martinican artist Julien Creuzet, video artist, visual artist, poet, will be the first man of color to represent France at this world-renowned Biennale, entitled this
year
Foreigners
Everywhere
. Without forgetting Kapwani Kiwanga, Canadian artist of Tanzanian origin, who will represent Canada this year.
Our future - Africa-Europe Dialogues
is organized with numerous African organizations and the French Institute. After the forums in Johannesburg, Yaoundé, Algiers and Mauritius, the next episode will take place in Abidjan, from April 20 to 22. The project remains the same: to continue the dialogue, build new foundations for relations between Africa and Europe and meet tomorrow's challenges together.
The London gallery Tiwari Contemporary is opening an exhibition on April 23 with
Gareth Nyandoro
on the theme
Pfumvudza
. The artist lives and works in Ruwa, located 30 minutes by car from Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. Nyandoro observed and documented the daily life and informal entrepreneurship of its inhabitants by making small to large-scale mixed media drawings in his inimitable Kuchecka-cheka style, influenced by printmaking and paper-cut techniques, from assembly and accessories. The concept “Pfumvudza” means “to flourish” or “to flourish”. It is also the name of the program approved by the Zimbabwean government for 2020 advocating citizen self-sufficiency.
”Chickens for Sale 3 (Call Now 0735 570829)” (2023), 120 x 90 x 4 cm, work by Zimbabwean artist Gareth Nyandoro, shown as part of the exhibition “Pfumvudza” at the Tiwani Contemporary gallery, from April 23 to June 15, 2024. © Gareth Nyandoro / Tiwani Contemporary
From April 23 to October 27, the Arab World Institute (IMA) in Paris hosts the
Arabofuturs
exhibition . Videographers, visual artists, photographers and performers invite us to enter the dreamlike worlds of science fiction and new Arab imaginations. The aim is to offer “
emancipatory counter-narratives: globalization, modernity, ecology, migration, gender or decolonization are some of their favorite subjects
”.
The 11th edition of
Paris Tribal
will take place from April 23 to 28 in Paris, in the galleries of Saint-Germain-des-Prés specializing in ancient arts from Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas. Among the many discoveries to be made: the Anthony JP Meyer gallery unveils its collection of 99 bronze miniatures of the peoples of Africa, plunging us into their multiple cultural beliefs with statuettes representing anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures.
The
RFI Théâtre Prize
has launched its call for submissions. So far, the prestigious prize has allowed around ten winners to meet a larger audience, in their respective countries, but also internationally. It is aimed exclusively at authors born and living in Africa, the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean or the Middle East. To apply, candidates must send their text before the deadline of Saturday April 27, 2024, at midnight.
Persona
, meaning “mask” in Latin, is a group exhibition at the German gallery Melbye-Konan in Hamburg. It brings together several contemporary artists using the power of inspiration of African masks and sculptures in their work, including the Ivorians Yannick Ackah, born in 1992 in Yamoussoukro, Ngoye, born in 1980 in Abidjan, and Yéanzi, born in 1988 in Katiola.
With its large areas of color in red, yellow or blue, the work of the Ivorian painter
Sess Essoh
is a real whirlwind. With
Cogito Ergo…Seum,
the LouiSimone Guirandou gallery in Abidjan presents a painting that is “
solar, lively, colorful, carried by the painter's manifest passion for what he creates
”. His work is “
the expression of a free man who intends to totally enjoy his freedom
”.
“We Buy Torn Dollar Notes 2” (2023), 77 x 125 x 4 cm, work by Zimbabwean artist Gareth Nyandoro, shown as part of the “Pfumvudza” exhibition at the Tiwani Contemporary gallery, from April 23 to 15 June 2024. © Gareth Nyandoro / Tiwani Contemporary
►
Do not hesitate to send us your “unmissable” cultural events to rfipageculture@yahoo.fr.
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your inbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
Share :
Continue reading on the same themes:
Culture Africa
Culture
Uganda
Ivory Coast
France
Germany
Quebec
United Kingdom
our selection
Italy
Zimbabwe