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“The resonance of traumatic historical events in my personal and cultural memory is at the very core of my work. I see the work as the result of my investigation of the tension that exists in spaces that are at once sites of trauma and sites of healing. I am intrigued by concept of the “re-memory” (renewed or remembered memory), memory as a trigger and a means for exploring the dismembering of the histories, cultures, traditions, families, and personal memories of my community/self. My work seeks to articulate an historical and cultural injury in a way that tries to avoid and subvert images of suffering and victim-hood that have been used as visual hot buttons in the past. I am interested in seducing the eye by using the scenic aspects of landscape and the potential for the betrayal that can come from closer examination of these seemingly “innocent” and “untouched” places/bodies.” – Deborah Jack.

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McQueen’s greatest strengths lie in his sequential short-films that have his audience shifting the visual pieces left and right, in order the film begins to make sense; and in those precious moments when his playful props run their course, his spectators are lost in this magical stretch of limbo, where ideas and animation supersede logic and order; which is where McQueen holds his own.

Rajesh Punj analyses the work of Steve McQueen.

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Rosalie van Deursen writes a personal report of the biennial in Senegal.

Jean-Philippe Aka takes the same event as a starting point to talk about the market for contemporary African art. Van Deursen concludes: “Considering Dak’Art as the most important international platform for established and emerging African arts and artists based on the continent but also in the African Diaspora, the international well-attended 11^th edition seem to have succeeded”. Aka is convinced that many changes are necessary to make the African art market healthy.

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Although he hesitates to talk about it, the transition from Surinam to the Netherlands is an issue. It is a transition from a religious culture to a more secular culture. The move from a traditional art academy to an ‘everything-is-possible-academy’ must be enormous. These transitions challenge everyone’s identity.

Rob Perrée on the work of Ruben Cabenda.

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I always have human faces in my painting. People are what the world is made of. Personal memories (of course, nostalgia) are a very important aspect of my work. I always tell people that the best education I ever had was growing up in my grandfather’s compound.  Every evening as kids we would gather around and listen to stories; someone always had a story to tell. And during festivals performers would come to tell stories.

Yvette Greslé interviews Victor Ehikhamenor.

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