Mostra Pan_Africana de Arte Contemporânea

CURATORSHIP

More than just a physical element, the ocean that separates us from Africa is also a guardian of history, and a link between the two continents. The Atlantic Ocean, a slave trade route through which millions of Africans were forced to come to the American continent, was the starting point for the curatorship of the Mostra Pan-Africana de Arte Contemporânea (Pan-African Contemporary Art Exhibition). The curatorship proposed dialogue and interchange between Brazil and the artistic output of African countries and of Afro-descendants. The exhibition was comprised of three categories – visual arts, thought, and cinema. The event took place at Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia (Bahia Museum of Modern Art) and at Sala Walter da Silveira (Walter da Silveira Salon), representing the diversity of art work and ideas both from Africa and the Black Diaspora nations.

The ocean is present, in symbolic and material ways, in most of the art work presented. This is a natural choice: the ocean holds memories that join together countries that are, otherwise, very different. Curated by Solange Farkas and promoted by Associação Cultural Videobrasil, the exhibition highlighted many similarities between Brazil and the Africa of today, which should lead to an increasingly intense interchange. The event, an important step forward in this relationship, was sponsored by Petrobras and supported by the Ministry of Culture. It also received institutional support from the Fundação Cultural Palmares and the French Embassy in Brazil.

The work of António Ole (Angola), Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons (Cuba/United States), Mario Cravo Neto, Eustáquio Neves, and Daniel Lima (Brazil), Aliou Mbaye, Fatou Kandé Senghor, Matar Ndour, and Pape Seydi (Senegal) interacted with the building in which they were exhibited: Solar do Unhão (Unhão Manor), which used to hold separate installations for masters and slaves during the colonial period. The art work deals with memory, identity, past and present, hope and pain. African contemporary film production, to be screened at Walter da Silveira Salon, is proof of the continent’s vitality and expressiveness. Above all, the exhibition made us think about our own interracial history.

THE SEA THAT TAKES US APART AND BRINGS US TOGETHER (PDF)
by Solange Farkas

_EXECUTIVE TEAM


	CURATORSHIP More than just a physical element, the ocean that separates us from Africa is also a guardian of history, and a link between the two continents. The Atlantic Ocean, a slave trade route through which millions of Africans were forced to come to the American continent, was the starting point for the curatorship of the Mostra Pan-Africana de Arte Contemporânea (Pan-African Contemporary Art Exhibition). The curatorship proposed dialogue and interchange between Brazil and the artistic output of African countries and of Afro-descendants. The exhibition was comprised of three categories – visual arts, thought, and cinema. The event took place at Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia (Bahia Museum of Modern Art) and at Sala Walter da Silveira (Walter da Silveira Salon), representing the diversity of art work and ideas both from Africa and the Black Diaspora nations. The ocean is present, in symbolic and material ways, in most of the art work presented. This is a natural choice: the ocean holds memories that join together countries that are, otherwise, very different. Curated by Solange Farkas and promoted by Associação Cultural Videobrasil, the exhibition highlighted many similarities between Brazil and the Africa of today, which should lead to an increasingly intense interchange. The event, an important step forward in this relationship, was sponsored by Petrobras and supported by the Ministry of Culture. It also received institutional support from the Fundação Cultural Palmares and the French Embassy in Brazil. The work of António Ole (Angola), Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons (Cuba/United States), Mario Cravo Neto, Eustáquio Neves, and Daniel Lima (Brazil), Aliou Mbaye, Fatou Kandé Senghor, Matar Ndour, and Pape Seydi (Senegal) interacted with the building in which they were exhibited: Solar do Unhão (Unhão Manor), which used to hold separate installations for masters and slaves during the colonial period. The art work deals with memory, identity, past and present, hope and pain. African contemporary film production, to be screened at Walter da Silveira Salon, is proof of the continent’s vitality and expressiveness. Above all, the exhibition made us think about our own interracial history. THE SEA THAT TAKES US APART AND BRINGS US TOGETHER (PDF) by Solange Farkas _EXECUTIVE TEAM
Copyright© Videobrasil - 2005