Burkina Faso Wed 16-02-2011

Visionary Africa: Art at Work
By AfricanColours.com

To commemorate this anniversary and to mark the occasion of the third EU-Africa Summit, the European Commission, together with the Palais des Beaux Arts (Centre for Fine Arts, Burssels) and in partnership with the Commission of the African Union, is launching a multi-disciplinary and itinerant cultural project: “Visionary Africa: Art at Work”.

The idea for this project was put forward during the international colloquium “Culture and Creativity as Vectors for Development”, organised by the European Commission in April 2009, and endorsed in the framework of the Africa-EU partnership.

This project focuses on the importance of culture and creativity as development tools and is directly in line with the Brussels Declaration by Artists and Cultural Professionals from EU and ACP countries. It includes :

-An itinerant urban exhibition of contemporary African artistic practices
-Residencies of African artists in a different country
-Discussion panels on the relation between art and development of modern urban Centres in Africa.
-Digital projections in different neighborhoods in the city

For this occasion, an exhibition pavilion has been specially designed by British/ Ghanaian architect David Adjaye. The pavilion will remain in Burkina after the end of the exhibition in order to offer a new exhibition space to local artists.

The exhibition presents a journey through « The Past, Present and Future of Independent Africa », put together by the co-curator of "ART at WORK", Simon Ndjami (Cameroun).

The recent Past of 50 years independency is seen through the eyes of artists from various African regions, with artists like Bob Gosani, Ricardo Rangel, Malick Sidibe, Jean Depara, Samuel Fosso, Philippe Koudjina, Mohamed Amin, Santu Mofokeng, Akinbode Akinbiyi, Jodi Bieber, Pierrot Men, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Zineb Sedira, Tracey Derrick, Andrew Tshabangu, Aïda Muluneh, Eileen Perrier, Myriam Abdelazziz, Musa Nsumalo, Lolo Veloko.

The presence of African cities is symbolised by pictures of 72 African capitals photographed by David Adjaye. The future is represented by works of contemporary artists from Burkina Fasso.

The exhibition was previewed in conjunction with the European Union-Africa Summit in Tripoli (Libya, November 29, 2010) and continues a debate between Europe and Africa concerning the future development of societies and African cities which initiated in the summer of 2010 in the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels with the "Visionary Africa:
Geographics/A Useful Dream" programme.

"Visionary Africa: Art at Work – An itinerant platform in Africa" starts travelling today between different African capitals, beginning with Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and followed by Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), aiming to launch a discussion on the entire continent regarding the interaction between art and culture with the development of cities and societies of Africa of the immediate future.

In every city where the exhibition takes place, a workshop will be organised at the end of the exhibition, during which an original art work will be created by a important African artist at the end of his residency project in the city.

A Series of digital projections and animations in various neighborhoods in the city will complete the menu of this complex and multidisciplinary project.

Itinerary Multi-Disciplinary Project in African Capitals.

OUAGADOUGOU (February 19 > March 9, 2011)Itinerant urban multi-disciplinary project “Visionary Africa – Art at work” Exhibition pavilion, discussion panel and artist residency.

Opening: Ouagadougou, Place de la Nation, Saturday, February 19, 2011 at 11 AM, in the exhibition pavilion

The great Ethiopian artist Theo Eshetu has a residency project in Ouagadougou to create a new work.

2010 and 2011 mark the 50th anniversary of the independence of 22 African countries.

Exhibition accessible from Feburary 19 to March 9, 2011, in the pavilion at Place de la Nation, Ougadougou. Admission free.

Workshop : March, 4, 2011
Artist in residency: Théo Eshetu (Ethiopia)

Press contact

Hélène van den Wildenberg – Cecoforma press: press@cecoforma.com
Leen Daems, press officer Bozar Expo www.bozar.be: Leen.Daems@bozar.be
Catherine Baum, press-information, Delegation of the European Union: catherine.baum@ec.europa.eu