contemporary art
Post-modernists reject the idea that art can provide meaning. If life is meaningless, they say, fine – let’s not pretend that art can do better. Let’s just accept that it’s nonsense, like everything else, and get on with it. This new Post-Modernist philosophy thus triggered a whole new set of priorities, which were greatly facilitated by the coincident arrival of new technologies, like television, video, and
Art by Yinka Shonibare
I was thinking: Okay, so where do I stand? I live in England. I’m from Nigeria. Nigeria was colonised by the British. The Victorian era was the height of colonialism in Africa. How do I relate to the repressive Victorian regime?
So Victoriana for me actually means conquest and imperialism. And so, in a sense, it is actually my fear. So what I then decided to do was to actually confront my fear and face my fear. And the way to confront my fear is to actually parody that fear. A lot of the works came out of my desire to face my fear and to turn it into parody.
Exhibition of Nigerian Artists, Germany 2007
Courage could create opportunities. In 2005, a Nigerian artist based in Germany, decided to organize a workshop in Nigeria and exhibit his works. The workshop was not only successful but paved way for a competition sponsored by the Goethe-Institut Lagos. Two students at the Yaba College of Technology won the 1st and 2nd prizes of the competition, which offered them the
Documenta 12
Contemporary art has developed over the years to include implementation of modern digital technique and high-tech materials. The visual concepts are not only 2 or 3 dimensional but encompass sound, feel and multi-dimensional movements in performances and dynamic installations. For the lovers of art, the documenta provides an overview of contemporary art through the works of selected artists from different countries around the world.
Blackbox
Over the years, the basic art forms have been extended through the imaginative power of artists worldwide. Different shapes or forms have been created by implementing different media and objects, which inspire the viewer to perceive art from a new level of thought. An art work titled Black Box is on exhibition at the Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin from the 29th October 2005 till 15th January 2006. The work incorporates drawings, mechanical/kinetic objects, animations/film projections as well as German-African history in a fascinating manner. AFRITOPIC was at the exhibition’s press conference and had the opportunity to interview the South-African artist, William Kentridge and the New-York-based curator, Maria-Christina Villaseñor.
