Kadara Enyaesi, L’Ouverture: Fauna I
Pictures Allowed: Yes
Kid Friendly: Yes
Open: Wednesday – Monday 12.00 - 00.00
Price: €12/9
City Prince/sses offers a dive into five cities that inhabit the art by artists of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Dhaka, Lagos, Manila, Mexico City and Tehran - each megacity differs from the other, yet their cultural, political and social singularities are full of so many pathways that seamlessly interlink and go beyond traditional territories of art.
These princes and princesses are fast changing the cities new reality of daily urban life, from mobility, to demographics and wealth distribution to identity, while contributing to highlight critical issues in order to build a better world.
As the viewer makes their way through the extensive catalogue of eclectic and immersive multi-sensory art, arresting visuals, trace-like audio and nostalgic scents, the are able to visualise the feeling of being in the midst of Lagos’ constant hustle and bustle.
The exhibition features a broad selection of old and new pieces by Aderemi Adegbite, Ndidi Dike, Ema Edosio, Kadara Enyaesi, Falz, Emeka Ogboh, WafflesnCream collective, Adeola Olugunju and Stephen Tayo. Selected works explore a myriad of themes ranging from spirituality, the socio-political landscape of Nigeria and resources that govern the economy, sexuality, identity and the psychology of the black body.
Where: South London Gallery, London
Pictures Allowed: Yes
Kid Friendly: Yes
Open: Tuesday - Sunday 10.00 -18.00
Price: Free admission
If you know the beginning, the end is no trouble is the first UK exhibition by Russian-Ghanian artist Liz Johnson Artur. The exhibition incorporates sculptural work and photography from her archives, documenting the lives of people from the African diaspora.
For over three decades Artur has documented black lives of those across Europe, America, Africa and the Carribean. She named the ongoing project Black Balloon Archive, alluding to a 1970 song lyric by Syl Johnson that describes a black balloon ‘dancing’ in the sky.
The Black Balloon Archive started from Artur's very personal desire to connect with people. She sees the work as characterising a perspective that is ‘missing when it comes to representing and occupying common ground’.
The exhibition space contains four hanging and floor-based bamboo structures, hosting a body of images shot exclusively on film - printed at various sizes and materials, defying traditional photographic techniques. The exhibition focuses on London, where Artur has lives since the 90s, capturing the richness and complexity of Black British life.
Liz Johnson Artur, taken from the Black Balloon Archive