The Global Africa Project

October 8th, 2009 at 04:50pm lowery

[ED: Lowery Sims is a Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design]

This will introduce the blog for the exhibition, provisionally entitled The Global Africa Project, which will be on view here at the Museum of Arts and Design as of February 2011.

The exhibition will focus on design, art and craft (which figure in the forefront of the Museum’s identity) created in and out of Africa by creators living and working in Africa, Europe, the Americas and Asia. Our partner in this venture is the Center for Race and Culture, Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, and its founding director, Leslie King-Hammond.

It is no secret that there is a rich pool of new talent that is emerging in the global African world. Events that have increased global awareness of these creators include Design Indaba conference and Expo, and Arise Africa Fashion Week in South Africa, the Salon International de l’Artisant de Ouagadougou in Bukina Faso, the promotion of arts and crafts by the Ghanaian government are all important venues. Additionally artisan and craft collaborates such as Monkeybiz, Basecamp Masaai Brand, the association of women potters in Kalabougou, Mali and the The Chalky Mountain Potters in Barbados demonstrate how design and craft are key economic engines in Africa and other diasporic communities. The Global Africa Project therefore aims to capture the rapid and pervasive interchange in contemporary creative practice and demonstrate how creators engage the contemporary art market in inventive and provocative ways.

Of course we realize in this day and time that such a project as this raises all sorts of issues of definition and parameters. Some of the basic questions include: how do we combat the popular misconception that Africa is a country? How do we define “African” in this age of nomadic and migratory identities? Does “African” imply a set of recognizable aesthetic characteristics? Are these expressed globally or only “in situ”? How does the market place figure in and influence our conception of what is “African”?

We will touch on these issues in coming entries and welcome you feedback and comments on these questions and others you may have.

Entry Filed under: curators,the global africa project