africanah.org

Arena for Contemporary African, African-American and Caribbean Art

Archive: articles

Art as Therapy for African Refugees

Therapy5photoMiri Davidovitz

Art therapy is not just used in Western countries but utilised across the globe. In particular it is a useful tool when language is an issue. The benefits of art therapy are even more vital for vulnerable groups such as the elderly, the young, or refugees. For example many refugees who have escaped persecution from African countries will have harrowing experiences to process. This is why organisations like Kuchinate are helping ease the pain of integration by providing a supportive community for those who are exiled. Many of the women are survivors of rape, abuse, torture or trafficking.

Christabel Johanson on art as therapy for African refugees
Photo: Miri Davidovitz

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Lina Iris Viktor: Elevating black{ness]

Lina10

Enthusiast of 24-karat gold or not, what is undeniable is that Lina Iris Viktor’s work provides with food for thought; she graciously interweaves complex aesthetics with conceptual and political commitment.

Raquel Villar-Pérez on Lina Iris Viktor

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Seniority First? On Mastery And Techniques in Ugandan art.

Matt6SanaaGateja

Most of the artists in this lot are locally consumed and no where on the international art scene. Apart from Sanaa Gateja, the rest wouldn’t be masters in the eyes of Simon Njami. Njami is right and there is a need for Ugandan practitioners to play at the big stage because there isn’t much the industry at home can offer. And also, is technique and aesthetics enough to bestow the title of master on one? What happens to the narrative, the stories around us, the pressing issues around us?

Matt Kayem on the discours: who can be called ‘master’?
Sanaa Gateja

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DEREK FORDJOUR

Derek1Conspicious Arrangement2015

Africanah.org at 5: We celebrate the 5th anniversary of this magazine with the re-publication of a number of remarkable essays or interviews. The interview Rob Perrée had with Derek Fordjour, almost 5 years ago, was remarkable because of what happened later on with his career. The Ghanaian-American artist was at that time a starting artist, promising, known in small circles. Now he is one of the most successful black artists in the US.

Conspicious Arrangement, 2015

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Mischeck Masamvu

MasStudded forehead2018

Through inundating the canvas with paint, it will be demonstrated that Masamvu through the facility of the canvas has acquired a spiritual outlet for expressing not just his emotions, but also the means to represent the body in its dynamic and corporeal forms. The artist states that this exhibition was ‘’…celebration and … a dance’’.

Themba Tsotsi on the work of the Zimbabwean artist Mischeck Masamvu
Studded Forehead, 2018

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