International

_{Untitled Woodcut Print (minimum reforms) 2007 24 x 30 Inches} 

You are cordially invited to the opening of the exhibition at the World Museum Liverpool on Friday 26^th June 3pm to 5pm.

_{Constitutional Referendum Bull consists of a series of woodcut prints by Kenyan artist Peterson Kamwathi created in response to Kenya’s constitutional referendum of 2005. Peterson has exhibited internationally and is considered one of Kenya’s best regarded young artists. The series charts the abortive constitution making process in Kenya, the failure of which contributed to the tragic political violence experienced over the last elections. There are only two of each prints in existence and the others are currently on show at an exhibition at the World Bank Headquarters in Washington. This is a rare chance to collect some really significant and historically important work from Kenya. These works are offered for sale on a first come first served basis. More....}

_{Blackism by Lemi Ghariokwu}

_{Artist Lemi Ghariokwu’s colourful paintings were wrapped around the music of Nigeria’s most charismatic and notorious musician, Fela Kuti. Lemi’s distinctive images of Africa – angry, sexy, cheeky, and righteous – were known and owned by hundreds of thousands of people across three continents. This new exhibition brings together the best of Lemi’s work and reveals how creative and repressive movements in 1970’s Lagos helped give birth to the Afrobeat phenomenon.  Album sleeves, Pop Art and Fela Kuti, that's the theme of the art exposition that will start from Mon 8 June to Mon 6 July, London UK.   More…..}

 _{The Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) and the Museum fo African Art are proud to present Perspectives: Women, Art and Islam, an exhibition of five female artists whose major connection is their personal relationship with Islam.  Perspectives, curated by Kimberli Gant and Lisa Binder, will be on view at MoCADA, 80 Hanson Place in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, from June 4 - September 13, 2009. Read more here}

_{The Dressing by Richard Onyango}

_{Superstar Kenyan artist Richard Onyango has intimated that he might soon be "retiring”.  East Africa’s contemporary art promoter Ed Cross, based in Nairobi, says now is the time to take the opportunity to buy one of his latest works.  “These are whacky and very interesting works” says Ed. “Recently Onyango’s bus painting sold at Bonham’s in London so buying his work should be a good investment as well as giving pleasure”  Click here to view a slide show by Ed Cross of the artists latest works for sale.  For more information on how to purchase visit africanworks.blogspot.com}

_{Post Modern Immigrant by Oumar Mbengue Atakosso - Photographs by Giovanni Piesco.}

^{Galerie 23 presents an installation including video of Oumar Mbengue Atakosso. The exhibition opens on Sunday 24th May at 1600 hrs by writer Vamba Sherif. Oumar Mbengue does not offer ready answers. He places the public in a suggestive environment where many interpretations are possible and where a diversity of feelings will be thrust upon them. In his presentation , it is as though he appropriates the space by covering much. Is he testing our limits, provoking us or testing our double standards? What he definitely does is to provide an experience that will not soon be forgotten. Read more courtesy of de40eurogalerie.nl}

^{Poster for Audiovisual E-platform}

^{The new website of the UNESCO Audiovisual E-Platform has been uploaded with new functionalities. Its initiative has as priority to support independent audiovisual producers and has nearly 600 audiovisual works from around 80 countries that you can view thanks to the stream system. At the end of 2008 and thanks to a contribution of the Spanish government, the management of this project was decentralized from Paris and it is currently managed by the UNESCO Centre of Catalonia-UNESCOCAT. Read more here}

_{The National Museum of African American history and culture in Washington}

_{The New York Times writer Nicolai Ouroussof admits that his expectations are quite low when it comes to new architecture in Washington. So the reaction, a big round of applause that was accorded the announcement that the Ghanaian designer David Adjaye would be the lead designer of the new National Museum of African American History and Culture Museum is no big surprise. Adjaye, The 42 year old designer is a rising star in the architecture world. Read more here courtesy of the New York Times}

_{There are many Africa-India stories, but for this one, the Sakshi Gallery (maybe not a misspelling of Saatchi, but reputed to be hip anyway), in the back streets of South Bombay near the Taj Mahal Hotel, has collaborated with The Centre for Contemporary Art, located in Lagos’s Sabo.  The result is Chance Encounters: Seven Contemporary Artists from Africa. Seven, like the iconic Seven Stories about Modern Art in Africa organised by London's Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1995.  This time, though, it is not about seven countries, but seven artists from north, west and southern Africa: a Moroccan, Ghanaian, three Nigerians, a Gabonese and Zimbabwean. Aarti Wa Njoroge visited the show and brings you a report about her chance encounter with seven African Artists in South Bombay  Click here to read}

_{The Sakshi Gallery Press Release can be found here}

^{Curator Okwui Enwezor}

^{On April 22 at the Gotham Hall in New York City, the Nigerian scholar and independent curator Okwui Enwezor received the Centre for Curatorial Studies at Bard College Award for Curatorial Excellence. The August gathering of board members of both the Centre and the College, wealthy collectors, blue chip}

^{artists and gallery owners, as well as leading contemporary art critics and scholars in the ornate temple-like space of the Gotham Hall was impressive and memorable. For, by giving this award, arguably the most important in the field of curating, to Enwezor, the Centre for Curatorial Studies acknowledged his paradigm-changing contributions to the field of contemporary art, writes Chika Okeke-Agulu courtesy of Next.}

Place du petit sablon Brussels

_{In April 2009 delegates converged in Brussels for a meeting on Culture & Development at the invitation of Council of the ACP Group and the European Commission. The aim of the meeting was to highlight the importance of the creative and cultural economies for the identity of people, peace, and stability of societies and the economic development of AC P countries. As a result artists, professionals, and cultural entrepreneurs from all the countries of Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific crafted the Brussels Declaration. Click here to read the document}

_{'The Peak Project' Image courtesy of El Anatsui and The Museum of African Art}

_{The Museum for African Art and BRIC Arts/Media/Bklyn present El Anatsui: Process and Project from March 25th to May 2nd.  The showcase piece (pictured above) titled ‘The Peak Project’, is small mountains of gold, approximately two feet high, in the center of the gallery. In this sculpture, he has created a glittering fabric using recycled metal— at once so dangerous, says Lisa Binder, curator, that the staff at the Smithsonian had to have tetanus shots, but also so beautiful it evokes gold as well as the sun or stars, manipulated to form three dimensional peaks. El Anatsui has made his name by creating delicate, yet monumentally scaled, gorgeous, shining tapestry from aluminum liquor bottle caps and copper wires. Read more here from brooklynheightsblog.com}

_{My name is Joe - Poster from docfilmsa.blogspot.com}

^{The Alter-Ciné Foundation offers a yearly grant to young film and video makers from Africa, Asia and Latin America to direct a documentary film on the theme of rights and freedoms, including social and economic rights, women’s rights, the right to culture and artistic creation. This year, the Foundation will award a grant of 10,000 Canadian dollars to a video or filmmaker to assist in the production of a documentary project. The grant is aimed at young video and filmmakers born and living in Africa, Asia or Latin America who want to direct a film in the language of their choice. Click here to read more.}

_{Photo: Jason Moore}

^{Fondazione di Venezia is about to launch the second phase of the project “Art Enclosures – Residencies for visiting international artists in Venice”. The upcoming 3 month residency programme, offers the opportunity and a series of activities for two emerging artists up to the age of 40 years coming from the African continent, from May to July 2009. The project covers travelling expenses, material and studio costs for the visiting artists for the duration of the residency. Click here to read more.}

Reverend on ice by Yinka Shonibare

^{By mixing and stretching ideas regarding African history, Shonibare undermines the classic canons by which African culture and its artists are judged. So-called traditional African art has been depicted and characterized as sculptural. It is often made of wood, sometimes shaped as a mask and other times, represents bodily figures. Resourcefulness is also a common attribute assigned to African artists since they commonly use recycled materials such as wire, cans, packaging and even weapons. Read more here courtesy of seven magazine.}

<sup>The film director Marcel Hanoun, by Nathalie Prebende

It’s been 5 years that cell phones in France have been equipped with a camera and a screen. Recognized today throughout the world for its pioneering effort and expertise in the exploration of audiovisual creation with mobile technologies, the Forum des images opens its call for entries to all creators for the 5th edition of the Pocket Films Festival. Film directors, photographers, artistes, performers and amateurs of new technologies are invited to send their films, made with a video cell phone. Click here to read more.</sup>

^{In search of light by Mulugeta Gebrekidan}

^{As the founder of the West African Museums Programme (1982-87) and Chief Curator of the National Museum of African Art (1987-97), Philip L. Ravenhill was a major creative force in the study, collection, preservation, and exhibition of African art. The Philip L. Ravenhill Fellowship is awarded to an art historian, cultural anthropologist, museum curator, or visual artist of African heritage. The Fellowship is intended to give deserving individuals the opportunity to travel, conduct research, or practice their art in North American or European museums. Preference is given to young or mid-career scholars or artists who have not recently had the opportunity to travel internationally. Read more here.}

^{Paper art by Richard-Sweeny from davidreport.com/blog}

^{The Art Studio AMATERAS in Sofia, Bulgaria, is launching a series of international paper art events, first in Bulgaria and thereafter for exhibitions in various countries. The first exhibition is in 2D and 3D paper art created by artists from all over the world without restrictions on techniques, styles or materials.  This exhibition will feature small paper works (no larger than A4 size) and will be held from June 5 – July 5, 2009 at Art Alley Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria. An international jury will be making a selection and award cash prizes for the Best Show Award, Young Artist Award and Innovation Award.  Click here to read more.}

^{Success in 2008 is translating into a sequel for emerging filmmakers; the George Washington University which in 2008 hosted emerging filmmakers from Lebanon, Uzbekistan, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Jordan, India, Kyrgystan, Somalia, Malaysia, and Kenya, has this year sent a call-out for applicants for its 2009 International Emerging Filmmakers Fellowship Program. The program’s stated aims are to: To encourage the development of documentary filmmakers from around the globe; To heighten the awareness of the work of these individuals in front of program executives from the US and other Western broadcast and funding outlets; and to engage these non-fiction innovators in an international dialogue to enhance the development, production, and distribution of documentary film throughout the world. Click here on application procedure.}

<sup>Matatu art culture in Nairobi

“Intoxicate”, “Natasha”, “Osama”, “Respect” – if you have just landed in Nairobi, you will not miss these urban-chic, very politically-leftist declarations on Nairobi’s galleries-on-wheels. The Matatu, minivan public transport, carrying 14 passengers (or 16 or 20 when traffic officers are not watching), are the real emblems of Nairobi. These are the types of public transport means you will find in much of Africa, but in Nairobi, they have evolved into something else – hip hop in look and sound, rebellious and frequently fun to ride in. This is the topic that Kenyan artist, Jacob Wachira Ezigbo, recipient of Oregon’s Facets of Africa Resident Artist will be exploring. The Matatu is such a serious cultural facet that it is surprising it has not yet been the focus of serious art. Click here to read more.</sup>

_{France has raised the bar for art promotion, again, this time a whole 7 years. All the country’s "emblematic great monuments, cathedrals, abbeys and small town monuments," used to admit under 18s free of charge. Now, President Sarokozy has extended this privilege to youths under 25, added teachers to the bracket and thrown an additional 100 million euros into the offer.}

_{Contained in his New Year’s address, Sakorzy’s offer probably happens only in France. But it is worth some thinking of for governments and institutions in Africa after a recent report from UNCTAD (special report coming up on AfricanColours) has shown that the “creative economy” could well become the next growth sector of the international economy. Art pays!}

_{Click here to read more from AFP}

^{Construction Yard by William Kentridge}

^{South Africa will present the continent’s only major contemporary art fair, the Joburg Art Fair in Johannesburg, on 2-5 April. South African art stars such as Marlene Dumas, William Kentridge and Robin Rhode showed works during last year’s inaugural fair. Organizer Ross Douglas says this year’s draws will include an exhibition of Malian photography and Jane Alexander’s installation, Security. In Alexander’s piece, uniformed guards will be posted around a razor-wire fence that cages in a pile of machetes, sickles, workers’ gloves and wheat. Read more here...}

<sub>Peace and Love, bestowed upon us

 The Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC is gearing up for the Inauguration of the first African American President of the USA.  As part of the festivities, the curator for Education Jessica Martinez at the institute would like to show images of Obama-related visual culture in Africa. Please consider sharing your recent field photographs of signage, posters, cloth and the like that reference the President-elect. Send photos and permission to use them on our museum's pavilion screen to MartinezJL@si.edu. Your kind participation is highly appreciated.</sub>

_{Click here for related story}

_{Desert Close up By Maria Onyegbule}

_{Warren M. Robbins, founder of the Museum of African Art, forerunner to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art, died Thursday at George Washington University Hospital of complications from a fall at his home last month. He was 85. When he started the Museum of African Art in 1964, Mr. Robbins, a native of Worcester, had never been to Africa, never worked in a museum, never been involved with the arts, and never raised money. His vision of a museum of African art for Washington grew out of a trip he took in the early 1960s, when he was a cultural attache with the US Embassy in Bonn, Germany.}

_{Read more here from the LA TIMES online}

^{Advertiser's announcement
Opening Reception and Symposium}

^{Africa Now! conceived and organized by the World Bank Art Program in partnership with the World Bank Vice Presidency for the Africa Region and the Biennale of Contemporary African Art, Dak’Art, Senegal, invites you to participate in the opening reception and symposium of ‘Emerging talents from a continent on the move’, at the World Bank organising committee Main Complex (MC) Tuesday December 9 in room MC 13-121. The symposium agenda include, the Role and Social Responsibility of African Artists, Artistic Activities in Africa, and Contemporary, Modern and Traditional Art in Africa. For additional information on this symposium, please contact Pia Dahl, Africa Now! Secretariat, Washington DC, on 202-458 1175 or pdahl@worldbank.org.}

^{Elephant by Lysiase Nyamurova}

^{Zimbabwean sculptor Lysiase Nyamurova is hiding what could be one of the biggest steel and iron sheet elephant artworks in East London in the backyard of his Southernwood flat. The rusty 2.5m high and 3m wide structure takes up most of the space in the yard, and the view has been a spectacle for those who visit his flat to watch him weld and grind the imposing artwork together. Click here to read more from the Daily dispatch online}

^{Saba Cultural and Artistic Institute under supervision of Iranian Academy of Arts is organizing the Fifth International Biennial of Painting in the Islamic World on 19th of June, 2009. Interested participants are required to send 3 images of their works on a CD to Saba as soon as possible before the deadline on 20th Dec 2008. Any works (CD) received late will not be sent to the selection committee for judging. Click here for more information on application procedure and requirement.}

_{Princess Akinyi’s masterly essay, Pink Declines Whiteness is one of those articles – perhaps better thought of as a think piece – that remains with you long afterwards. These are lives of Africans who lived through struggle and betrayal in medieval and ancient Europe, whose very presence on that continent has all but been banished from the history books. Akinyi’s searing analysis brings them back to life and we re-live their triumphs and failures, the racial ignorance, suspicion and fear Europeans learnt to approach them through. Her fresh perspective, her language clear as morning light, makes this hard to stop reading.
This is a must read article, for anyone living through these times, and not
just those interested in Black History.}

_{Read more here}

^{Youngsters by Malick Sidibe}

^{Regardez-moi! Photographs by Malick Sidibé is the Malian artist's first exhibition on the West Coast. It features 333 gelatin silver prints created between 1962 and 2003. This retrospective includes examples from Sidibé's signature bodies of work. The title of the exhibition, Regardez-moi! (Look at Me!), pays homage to Sidibé's own use of the phrase as a recurring image title and highlights the importance of self-identity in his portraiture, while honoring the patrons who have fueled his life's work. Read more here from SDSUniverse.}

^{The Centre of Visual, Electronic Arts & Multimedia will organize the 2nd edition of the International Festival of Visual Arts and New Medias (FAN). The festival will take place on from the 30th of March to the 4th of April 2009 in Casablanca. It will also be an occasion for young artists to acquire new knowledge through workshops.  Professional artists and young creators in visual arts and new media’s willing to participate can click here for more information.}

^{Current Gallery invites video artists and enthusiasts to submit videos of all genres - experimental, animation, music video, documentary, short home videos, out-takes, unfinished films, scientific studies, etc. Works selected from this call will be featured in Baltimore vs. the world DVD publication due in 2009. Baltimore vs. the world will incorporate two separate DVD compilations. One DVD will feature selected works from around the world and the other DVD will focus on selected works from Baltimore, Maryland. Read more here on application procedure.}

^{Butterfly Works and SICA present the “Surprising Africa Special” at Picnic 2008. This one day event puts the spotlight on the vibrant and fast moving technological and creative developments from cities across Africa. You think you know what's happening in Africa? Find out why Google, Vodafone and Nokia are developing new businesses there. How Africans are building peace using mobile tools and how young artists are investigating their changing cultures through new media. Click here to read more.}

^{Culture for Development (C4D) is an information portal that provides to 375 free, full-text electronic resources on the role of culture for development, both as a concept and development tool, with particular focus on museums, theatre and cultural heritage. It includes E-Publications, Websites, E-Journals, Newsletters, Discussion lists, Bibliographic databases and directories of organizations and projects. For more information on C4D, click here.}

^{La Ville de GRASSE organise du 22 juin au 10 juillet 2009 le 3eme Symposium de Sculpture International sur marbre dont le thème est Fleurs et Parfums. Sculpteurs : n’attendez plus pour vous inscrire.Les candidatures sont ouvertes du 1er août 2008 au 23 janvier 2009 Nous sollicitons votre aide pour communiquer l’information sur ce Symposium aux sculpteurs et écoles de votre pays afin qu’ils puissant participer à ce concours. Nous vous serions reconnaissants si vous aviez l’amabilité de nous transmettre le nom ou le fichier d’artistes à contacter. Ecrire plus ici}

^{Nordic African Institute invites researchers and artists to present papers for a conference dubbed 'What's culture got to do with it”?. The conference aims to discuss the role of culture – here creative cultural expressions – in understanding change in contemporary Africa. Discussions emphasis is on how to continue and strengthen the Nordic-African network created by the Cultural Images programme. We invite reflection papers and essayistic overviews rather than academic research results. Papers should not be previously published. Read more here.}

^{The ArtVenture Freedom to Create Prize has been launched. It seeks to celebrate artists who have used the arts as a medium to promote and protect human rights. The prize carries a total value of US$ 100,000 and is comprised of three different categories: main prize, youth prize and imprisoned artist prize. The inaugural prize will be a unique and significant award and will be judged by a panel of eminent artists, human rights experts and philanthropists. For more information click here}

_{UK based Nigerian artist Maria Onyegbule has just concluded a month long residency in Nairobi, Kenya, courtesy of AfricanColours and Arts Council, England. Her exhibition dubbed 'Comforts of Heritage' opened at RaMoMa, Rahimtullah Museum of modern art, Nairobi on Friday 25th July 2008, attracting a host of Kenyan art supporters and enthusiasts. The work on display was an intentional blend of geometry and rich colour that drew one's curiosity to the artist's subjects, whose concept was less obvious, leaving the viewer to interact with the forms and the theme. The exhibition ends on the 31st July 2008. Read more here.}

_{Spoleto, Italy, Museum of Modern Art (as part of the 51st Festival of Two Worlds). Exhibition closes 31st August}

_{The exhibition is a vast multi-sensorial ‘panorama’ of projects completed in Africa and Italy since 2000 by visual artist Virginia Ryan, around the three core themes of territory, memory and identity. Since 2001 Ryan has developed a body of work which investigates aspects of the West Africa reality from her position as foreigner and artist. Read more here by Rosa Maria Falvo}

_{The exhibition brings together major works by 12 artists who best represent the innovative and dynamic artistic practices across the African continent and the African diasporas and launches the book, Angaza Afrika – African Art Now -  a highly visual survey of contemporary African art compiled by Christopher Spring, curator of the African Galleries at The British Museum, and published by Laurence King.}

_{Click here for more details courtesy of the October Gallery.}

_{Magdelene Odundo has had no problem getting her work noticed. Long before Odundo graduated from RCA in 1982 she was being heralded by some as being the greatest potter to emerge since Elizabeth Fritsch. She has had the dubious distinction of being the most hyped ceramic artist in Britain. Prices for her work, which were very high when she was a student, have now reached a point where she is the most expensive potter of her generation in Britain.}

_{Read more here from the African blogspot hosted by Joe Pollit}

_{GALERIE 23 Hedendaagse Afrikaanse Kunst}

_{Invites you to the "The Unbreakable Nigerian Spirit" exhibition, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands}

_{From 26 June - 27 July 2008 Galerie 23 presents in cooperation with African Artists' Foundation (AAF) in Lagos and sponsored by Nigerian Breweries, part of Heineken International The Unbreakable Nigerian Spirit: Photo’s, paintings and objects of 10 Nigerian artists}

_{The exhibition will be opened by Tom de Man, Regional President Africa & Middle East, Heineken International, in the presence of artists: Gerald Chukwuma, Yomi Momoh, Tola Wewe, Emmanuel Dudu and a representatives of AAF.}

_{The new catalogue The Unbreakable Nigerian Spirit will be released.}

_{Click here for more}

^{The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States Secretariat is launching a call for proposals financed by the “ACP-EU cooperation support programme for the ACP cinema and audiovisual sectors”, to support projects in the intra-ACP cinema and audiovisual fields. The proposal aims at contributing to the development and structuring of the ACP States’ cinema and audiovisual industries so that they can create and distribute their own images more effectively. Read more}

_{Africa is the best-kept secret in the contemporary-art market, dealers say. Works by the artists El Anatsui and Romuald Hazoume have sold to U.S. and European museums and private collectors for as much as $450,000 at the October Gallery, London, and the Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. At auction, neither artist has fetched more than $10,000, according to Artnet, which tracks salesroom results. Read more by Bloomberg.com}

^{Clark/Mellon workshop "Contemporary African Art," scholars from Africa, Europe and North America will gather for a lively 2 day conversation and debate about contemporary African art with a public portion of the workshop beginning at 9.00 am on 24th May 2008. The workshop will be held at the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, MA, and will include scholars working on key artists and art movements from Egypt to South Africa, from Senegal to Kenya. Admission to the event is free. Read more by Media Newswire.}

^{Commercially astute artist, Maria Onyegbule, whose exhibition work includes Hidden Agenda (former Ikon Gallery) and Comforts of Heritage (Oxford House, London) will be visiting Africancolours, Nairobi for a month long residency in July 2008. Maria has a teaching experience which ranges from the formal education setting to community art, “where life long learners have explored their innate creative ability”. Maria describes her work as versatile, empathic and community focused. Click here to view Maria’s virtual exhibition.}

^{AFRICALLS? is a creative project that, through a documentary film, a book, and an exhibition, shows the works of five artists and two contemporary art production centres of seven African cities. Without a set script, all the stories have been constructed in the field, during the shooting, in real time, face to face with each of the artists who invite us to reflect on their ideas in that very moment in which life happens in front of the Africalls? camera. Read more about the upcoming exhibition.}

^{In December the multimedia project Timbuktu.tv was launched. This project will be carried out by the VPRO (a Dutch public broadcaster with an innovative and liberal character), in cooperation with Hivos. Broadcasting will start the end of March 2008. Timbuktu will be broadcasting weekly TV-shows and a 24/7 video website about small and big world affairs.}

^{It will be a programme about foreign affairs for young people, the YouTube generation. HIVOS is looking for film makers and journalists who would like to contribute to the programme. As a correspondent you will be producing and directing short features about events in your country. Filming for Timbuktu TV can also be an additional source of income. Click here to read more.}

_{Have your photographs exhibited and sold in London’s prestigious HOST Gallery... seen and judged by respected industry professionals... and of course the chance to win the first annual Foto8 Award for Best in Show and £1000. Click on image for details.}

^{The professional BA in Designing and implementing cultural projects was the result of an agreement between the Centre National d'Enseignement à Distance - Cned (France), the University of Provence Aix-Marseille 1 and the Ecole du Patrimoine Africain- EPA, signed on 22 February 2005. This degree, delivered by the University of Provence, meets the needs of EPA and its African network in high level professionals in cultural outreach. It is currently on the University of Provence's platform, Claroline. Read more.}

^{The Africa in Motion film festival (AiM), which takes place annually in October at Edinburgh Filmhouse, is officially inviting African filmmakers to submit short films for a new AiM  competition. In order to target the competition specifically towards young and emerging African talent, filmmakers who enter a film for consideration must not have completed a feature-length film previously. Films entered must have been completed in 2005 or after, and must be no longer than 30 minutes. Read more.}

^{Are you the sort who gets your isosceles triangles in a twist, who has problems with polygons and trouble with trig? Or are you a more mathematical type? Do you start to feel edgy around anything arty and long for stern logic instead of aesthetic waffle? Put aside your prejudices. Beyond Measure, the latest show to be staged at Kettle's Yard gallery in Cambridge, looks at the ways in which geometry has been used by everyone from artists through to scientists. Read Rachel Campbell-Johnston's article on timesonline.co.uk.}

^{“Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art,” is currently on exhibition at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, US, since the 22 December 2007 and runs to 20 April 2008, featuring approximately 70 works of art. The exhibition explores the many dimensions of spirituality of Yoruba art, including its complex network of deities, the relationship between the human body and creative expression, and the head as the theoretical seat of intelligence. Click here for the Yoruba art online exhibition on AfricanColours.net.}

^{I was once asked by someone, who was aware of my view that African art objects in European museums should in principle be returned to Africa, which of the African queens in European museums, Nefertiti or Ida was the most beautiful. My answer, not surprising for him, was that I could only really appreciate the full beauty of the ladies now kept in European captivity when they are released and freely return to their home countries. Read Dr. Kwame Opoku's article from ModernGhana.com.}

^{To change people’s attitude towards Africa is my greatest challenge. Africa is misunderstood a great deal, or in fact not understood at all, and I feel that I can use my gift to show the people of the world Africa as I know it, as I have experienced it and continue to do. My approach has been more to educate people about the African People, as a whole, in a different light than that  portrayed by the media. And so far I have been blessed to receive such a wonderful growing audience for my art. Read Wawi's interview .}

^{Art works done by 20 Kenyans living positively with HIV/Aids have been selected for a private showing at the Brunei Gallery in the Oriental and African studies section, at the University of London. The exhibition, dubbed ‘Our Positive Bodies’, will run from 17 April to 21 June 2008. “There will be 35 life size works on display at the exhibition, says Xavier Verhoest, who is one of the two facilitators of ‘Body map’ workshops and a curator of the upcoming exhibition... Read more about The Body Maps exhibition.}

^{“Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art,” is currently on exhibition at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, US, since the 22 December 2007 and runs to 20 April 2008, featuring approximately 70 works of art. The exhibition explores the many dimensions of spirituality of Yoruba art, including its complex network of deities, the relationship between the human body and creative expression, and the head as the theoretical seat of intelligence. Read more from the High's website and view some works on display.}

^{UNESCO is calling on African artists to participate in the UNESCO emblem competition whose deadline has been extended to 17 March 2008 to give them a chance to submit their work. With submissions from both developed and developing countries, but few submissions from Africa so far, UNESCO is particularly encouraging African graphic designers, artists, and practitioners of intangible cultural heritage- both professionals and amateurs, to participate . Read more about the competition.}

^{At Beijing's premier art district - known as 798 - workmen carrying tools are as busy as artists wielding brushes. They are building shops, cafes and, of course, galleries at a former factory complex that has come to symbolise China's contemporary art scene. Modern, Chinese art burst onto the international scene several years ago and its worldwide popularity is reflected in the bustle of 798. But it is not just a story about art. Read more from BBC.}

^{Rock star and activist Bono, last week embraced the power of art to raise funds for HIV/Aids relief efforts in Africa. At an art auction in New York, the U2 band singer and the British artist Damien Hirst helped to raise US $ 42.5 million. The most priced piece – which fetched US$ 7.15 M- was Damien’s piece titled ‘Where there’s a Will, there’s a Way’. For this, Damien used fake anti retro viral pills to represent life saving pills greatly needed in Africa. Wouldn’t it be quite helpful if we could have Bono or others of his stature raising funds for projects in Africa – if we could have them hold auctions on African soil and have art works done by African artists? It would not only help raise the much needed funds but also help take African art onto an international platform. But to find out more about the auction, click here for an article on the ABC News website.}

^{In conjunction with the Olympic Games in Beijing 2008, the 'ARTIADE - Olympics of Art' is calling on artists from all over the world to be part of the Olympics by showcasing their work at simultaneous exhibitions in Los Angeles and Beijing – and become a cultural ambassador for the country – to the Olympics, to be held as from 24th August 2008. All applying artists will be presented to the Jury in May, in Athens Greece.  The registration is open until 31 March 2008. Read more here.}

^{The first African contemporary art fair will be held in Johannesburg from the 13th to the 16th of March 2008. On sale will be the largest collection of African and South African contemporary art the world has ever seen - 5000 square metres of the Sandton Convention Centre have been booked for the event. The main sponsor for The Jo’burg Art Fair is First National Bank. Artlogic, the producers of the event, has galleries from three continents that focus on African contemporary art to participate in the first Jo’burg Art Fair. Click here for more.}

^{The Pocket Films Festival, festival of mobile video creation, organized since 2005 by the Forum des images, a major cinema center and film archive created by the City of Paris and dedicated to explore the relations between cinema, cities and society, with a strong emphasis on educational perspectives. Since 2005, Pocket Films has gained international recognition for its exploration of the artistic and functional  possibilities of the mobile telephone. Read more.}

^{(Global) - Arts for Global Development, Inc. has launched its TreasurePostcards Project’08 that invites FEMALE artists from across the globe to celebrate the 2008 International Women’s Day by sharing their visual voices/expressions/perspectives with donated postcard-sized artworks. Interested artists may highlight issues like violence against women, HIV/AIDS, lliteracy/education, skill development or economic empowerment in their works. Read more about the project and how you can participate.}

^{African Folk Tales Animated, a three-film and three-song compilation made at 2nd Lola Kenya Screen in Nairobi in August 2007 has been selected for screening in Finland in March 2008. The 5th annual Children's and youth's Videotivoli festival (March 4-9, 2008) in Tampere, Finland, selected Lola Kenya Screen's Manani Ogres, Little Knowledge Is Dangerous and The Wise Bride from among 500 submissions they received from 35 nations around the world. Read more about the event in Finland.}

 _{There has been an interesting article released in the past week by scientists about people’s association of the price of wine to its quality. According to the scientists’ findings, people subconsciously expect wines that cost more to be of a higher quality than cheap wine. Of course that is not always the case, as wine connoisseurs would attest, but the same kind of analogy seem to apply to collectors of works of art. Read more here}

^{Axel Sabac el Cher lives today in the city of Stuttgart, the capital of the southwest German state of Baden-Wurttenberg neighbouring Bavaria. From his name and from the skin colour of his father who died in 1962, Axel knew that his ancestors had lived in Germany for generations. One day in 1999, a scientist from the Historical Military Museum in Dresden appeared at his door with an oil painting from 1890, the year Emperor Wilhelm II drove Chancellor Bismarck out of office. Read more from Akinyi Princess of K'Orinda-Yimbo.}

^{Recorded in Santa Fe, New Mexico on the occasion of Accra Trane Station’s first visit from Ghana to the U.S., Topographies of the Dark is a musical exploration in dialogue with sculptural paintings made in Accra by Australian visual artist Virginia Ryan, resident in Italy. Her textured assemblages in overlaying densities of black are featured in the accompanying booklet.Ryan’s Topographies of the Dark paintings are created from recycled flip-flops. Read more by Clelia March.}

_{Batik designs can be as complicated or simple as the artist’s desires. They can be realistic and pictorial or purely expressive (abstract). As an enthusiast of the Modern Batik style,you are invited to a historical journey in art, which visits the past, pauses in the present, and continues long into the future. On this voyage, you’re going to discover how, over millenniums, a simple traditional art craft has evolved into an art form  Read more here. By Lomu Kibuuka}

^{Over the course of thousands of years, the Yoruba people have produced some of the best-known examples of African art. This December the High Museum of Art will present “Embodying the Sacred in Yoruba Art: Featuring the Bernard and Patricia Wagner Collection,” an exhibition that explores the spiritual significance of art in Yoruba culture. The exhibition will feature works of art from collectors Dr. Bernard and Patricia Wagner. Read more courtesy of the High Museum of Art, Atlanta.}

^{Culture gives the power and the space to work on the millennium objectives. It is an intrinsic part of combating poverty." Never before has Bert Koenders, the Netherlands' Minister of Development Cooperation, been so outspoken about the role culture plays in development. "To me, culture is especially about innovation and breaking away from patterns and taboos; it counterbalances cynicism. The positive sides of development are mediated by culture. Read here}

^{I had to make a considerable mental effort to banish the internal screenplay of preconceptions and stereotypes which ran through my mind as I stepped into the colourful lobby of Bristol’s Empire and Commonwealth Museum. Was it going to be an apology for the past, or worse still, a self-glorifying justification? Was it filled with looted artefacts, acquired in the days when the sea-faring city of Bristol profited from the unpardonable triangular trade – taking slaves from Africa to the Caribbean, then returning to Europe with the fruits of their stolen labour in the form of sugar, tobacco and cotton? Read more by Jenni O'Connor.}

^{I thought I must have been reading a document from 1907; I had to pinch myself and check the date on the newspaper to realise that French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s speech in Dakar was dated July of this year. “The African man has not yet entered history,” he lamented; well, one might ask whose version of history, precisely, he has not been allowed to enter. Nicolas Sarkozy should ask himself what led him to define history in solely European terms. Read more by Jenni O'Connor}

^{From October 20 to November 17, 2007, the Galerie Peter Herrmann located in Berlin, Germany presents c-prints and a video by Myriam Mihindou. Her self reflexive pictures deal with the female body and its representation. Forcibly strangulated hands or feet refer to extrinsic threat, that the body constantly is caught in. The vulnerability of oneself and the searching for the separate identity are basic components in the work of Myriam Mihindou. The artist was born in Gabon, studied in France and lives in Morocco currently. Read more}

^{Lugano, 18 ottobre 2007 - La Galleria Nerart di Via Somaini 6 a Lugano presenta, da giovedì 18 ottobre al 30 novembre 2007 un'importante mostra fotografica dal titolo Congo: Itinerari di una passione, foto dal 1923 al 1938. Protagonista è il Congo nelle foto di Emile Muller (1891-1976), il medico che alla sua meritoria attività professionale ha affiancato una straordinaria testimonianza delle regioni... more}

^{Darkest Europe and Africa's Nightmare by Akinyi Princess of K'Orinda - Yimbo is an incisive book with a view of the relationship between Africa and the West. The author, who holds diplomas from the London School of Economics and the London School of Journalism, suggests that the aid machinery hurts Africa more than it assists and that Westerners (and successful Africans) perpetuate the negative image of Africa to assuage their consciences as they continue to rip off a rich continent. Read more}

^{The project links urban development in South-Africa to art incentives in Finland and is a tongue-in-cheek attempt by two South Africans to build a visual and interactive game that might provide a contemporary glimpse into our dark continent of minerals and savages. The work consists of a public "explorer" route through the town of Rauma. An aerial perspective of the route would reveal it to be in the shape of the African continent. Read more}

_{The Documenta was initiated in 1955 by artist & educator Arnold Bode, in the city of Kassel. It is an event that occurs every five years and this year’s was the 12th exhibition, with about half a dozen African artists. After three and a half years of work, over 500 works of art have been gathered to be presented in 100 days in Kassel, between June 16-September 23 2007. The Documenta12 Advisory Board has linked the exhibition to the city, Read more}

_{HUGEAUX MEMORIAL: Master Artist ALLEN ROHAN CRITE(1910-2007)}

_{Dear Friends:
It is with deep sadness that the family of Allan Rohan
Crite wish to inform you of his passing, quietly at
home in his sleep, of natural causes, in the early
evening of September 6, 2007.}

^{Read more}

_{Video art is currently the most pervasive genre of contemporary art and beginning September 14, through Saturday, December 8, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art will feature the first-ever exhibition that explores this genre. Unlike the more conventional genres of painting and sculpture, video art emerged in the later half of the 20th century and has rapidly moved from the realm of cinema to visual arts genre. Read more}

_{The Last Book is a project aimed at compiling written stories and visual statements by different authors, for future generations. With book culture coming to an end and new technologies lending cultural mutations by transferring information to television and the Internet, the Last Book will be on show as an installation at the entrance of the Museum of the National Library of Spain in Madrid to serve as a stimulus for possible reactivation of culture. Read more}

_{Artist Beatrice Njoroge  just returned from a two week workshop in Jordan. In her diary of events published here, Beatrice gives us a sneak  preview of her time in Jordan in the company of other artists from all over the world.  She summerises thus "At the end of an intense two weeks I cannot help but quote George Bernard Shaw who said, “Some men see things as they are and ask, “Why”? I dream things that never were and say why not?” click here to read her Diary}

_{Larry Achiampong’s first solo exhibition, UNnecessary Homework, is a compilation of sharp, ironic and playful observations of the troubled relationship between "youths", education system, establishment and Bourgeois classes. The use of recycled objects, also frequently thought to be the prerogative of contemporary African artists, questions the relevance of cultural heritage when apprehending globalised artistic practices. Read more}

_{On Sunday 1st of July 2007, the author of 'The Atlantic Sound' Caryl Phillips took part in a lunchtime discussion with the artist Virginia Ryan, about the exhibition 'Castaways' which was being staged at the Whitworth art gallery, with a sound environment and film by Steven Feld, also invited to speak .Circa three hundred members of the public, including internationally respected anthropologists and art historians were present. Read more}

_{Almost three months ago, Artnet News published a brief report  titled "Art and Corruption in Venice," on the controversy surrounding the business activity of Congolese businessman and art collector Sindika Dokolo, whose art holdings are featured in "Check List", the art show selected to represent Africa at the 52nd Venice Biennale. Artnet Magazine has received a reply from Sindika Dokolo, stating his opinions about the controversies reported...Read more}

_{On the 26 February 2007, I sat through a discussion in Munich’s GASTEIG – an enormous complex housing theatres, operas, libraries, the city’s adult education centre, congress halls, cafés and restaurants. In one of the halls was the discussion event organised by various organisations of Germans of mixed parentage, with at least one parent or grandparent having African blood. Read more by Akinyi Princess K'Orinda- Yimbo}

The biggest exhibition of design shown to date in the African continent will open in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on November 29th, 2006 to January 07th, 2007 at the Gallery I, Caixa Cultural. The exhibition is produced by AFAA (Association Française D’Action Artistique) with the support of CULTURESFRANCE and the General Consulate of France in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

_{Read more}