africanah.org

Arena for Contemporary African, African-American and Caribbean Art

Author: Machteld Leij

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NEO TO LOVE. The work of Neo Matloga

NeoPortret

Matloga’s work is political, personal and universal at the same time. Growing up in a deeply troubled, racist society does leave its traces. These are counterbalanced by family life, love, friendship and the joy of living.

Machtel Leij on Neo Matloga
(first published: July 4, 2019)

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Antonio Jose Guzman: Electric Dub Station (in collaboration with Iva Jankovic)

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Guzman has an inquisitive mind, ready to find out how the histories of the places he works or lives are connected to other parts of the world, always out of a strong awareness of the effects of migration, of decolonialism and with transatlantic black identity in mind.

Machteld Leij on Electric Dub Station of Antonio Jose Guzman (Panama 1971)

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Charl Landvreugd: Ososma

Print

Emotion is a significant force in Landvreugd’s art. And of course, it helps if you know something of the artist’s background and if you take an interest in the public debate on colonialism and racism in the Netherlands. Landvreugd seems to want to combine knowledge and emotion. By doing so, he creates space for the possibility of insight beyond the personal and the anecdotal.

Machteld Leij on Ososma, the solo exhibition of Charl Landvreugd

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Marcel Pinas: Tembe Afaka

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During the last few years discussions have been going on in The Netherlands, addressing colonialism and its complex influence in the present. This discussion is most present in the field of arts, where exhibitions show artists who counter eurocentrism while reflecting upon their own identities, upon humanity and inhumanity. Pinas’ art works resonate with this discussion, as he is already rather entangled in the fabric of the art world, in Surinam as well as in The Netherlands.

Machtel Leij on the recent exhibition Tembe Afaka of the Surinamese artist Marcel Pinas.

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Omer Fast

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Fast aims to question the way a recollection can be a construction, rather than a fact. It gives him freedom to embrace complex storytelling, and as he interweaves the fantastical with the mundane his movies become confrontational, they question the humanity, or the lack of it, in today’s global conflicts.

Machteld Leij on the films of Omer Fast
Continuity (Diptych), 2012-2015.

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