Being in post-colonial society there is a narrative of identity that was placed upon you. It’s as though you’re expected to play a role – you’ve been given a script and you’re doing your best to play into this idea and deliver this character. As a woman you are striving to live up to the standard of Eurocentric women, a standard that’s difficult for even some European women.
In 2015 the artist Hamid El Kanbouhi became the so called ‘City Drawer’ (Stadstekenaar) of Amsterdam. A great honor and a nice amount. In return was expected of him to make a series of drawings that characterize the city. He asked Rob Perrée to add short texts.
Here a selection from this Intimate Street Art project.
Rwanda’s art scene is young and booming. Multiple art galleries were established in recent years, and visual artists are becoming more exposed to the region, and globe, exhibiting and experiencing residences. Article presents works of two Rwanda’s young artists Iirumva and Dusabe that are leading in shaping the dynamic art scene of Kigali.
I write and make art from a black perspective because I think it’s needed and it makes me feel like I own my stories. I feel like it’s beautiful, it’s resistant and it’s powerful.
The theme – Get Up Stand Up – is so strong and would have been explored to its depth. Owing to the fact that the host country Uganda is going through a political conundrum with a president who’s been leading for the last 35 years, suffocating a lot of freedoms, manipulating state institutions to his favor and spearheading a shameless corrupt government. It was timely and on spot to have such a theme for such a biennale where we should have seen Ugandan artists tackle the appalling political situation in their country.