eye.on.art

Summer started in London with a number of exhibitions including All Of Us Have A Sense Of Rhythm curated by Christine Eyene as part of the Curators’ Series # 8 at David Roberts Art Foundation. This project presents Eyene’s original research into rhythmic sources in material and immaterial productions within African traditional and contemporary cultures. A first exploration of this essential lineage, the exhibition encompasses dance, avant-garde composition, subcultures, popular music and rhythmic video editing from the twentieth century to the present day.

The public programme includes an evening of live music by artists Larry Achiampong, Julien Bayle and Evan Ifekoya (11 July) and a conversation between Barby Asante and Christine Eyene on the relation between music, cultural heritage, urban cultures and how these inform their curatorial practice (23 July).

In addition to this, the exhibition will be introduced at WOMAD, World of Music, Arts and Dance Festival as part of the World of Art programme, through sound works by some of the artists in the show (25 July). This is also an occasion to highlight sound art practice in Africa and reach out to other African and Diaspora artists. Sound artists interested in engaging with the project and having their work discussed at this WOMAD event can contact eyonart. More information here.

All Of Us Have A Sense Of Rhythm is accompanied with an exhibition leaflet featuring an essay by the curator. It also includes a selection of tracks that have shaped the concept behind the exhibition. Exhibition runs until 1^st Aug. 2015.

In Amsterdam, the Making Histories Visible project (University of Central Lancashire, UCLan) marked its presence with the opening of Embodied Spaces at Framer Framed in the Tolhuistuin. Following on from last year’s project WHERE WE’RE AT! Other Voices on Gender, at BOZAR, Brussels, this exhibition continues an ongoing cross-cultural dialogue with women and queer artists addressing the body, gender, and sexuality in their work within the frame of African, Caribbean, Pacific, Black and Romani cultural identities.

New voices have been added to the exhibition including Evan Ifekoya, Ope Lori and Delaine Le Bas’ collaborative practice with photographer Tara Darby and artist and writer Ronke Osinowo. Adapting to the Dutch context, the exhibition takes a local anchoring in the work of Patricia Kaersenhout, a Dutch visual artist, cultural activist and womanist of Surinamese heritage. Additionally, a new series of images by French-Malian photographer Hélène Jayet, as part of her Colored Only project, broadens the scope of her documentation of black hair in Amsterdam through portraits taken locally.

A rich public programme has also been put in place by Amal Alhaag, independent curator and co-founder of The Side Room, a space for intersectional feminist, queer and anti-colonial discourses and art.

First event in the calendar: ‘Venus—The Anti-hero Hero’, an interactive programme looking at the historically violent imageries surrounding Venus (Saartjie Baartman, aka the Hottentot Venus), with Quinsy Gario, Rehema Chachage, Shertise Selano, Hodan Warsame, Carolin Kamya, 23 June, and more events to be announced soon. Embodied Spaces @ Framer Framed continues to 26 July.

WHERE WE’RE AT! Other Voices on Gender and Embodied Spaces will be the subject of a presentation as part of UCLan’s Institute for Black Atlantic Research (IBAR) participation to the Collegium for African American Research (CAAR) biannual conference at Liverpool Hope University (24-28 June).
Also in preparation by IBAR scholars and the University of Liverpool, the conference ‘After Revolution: Versions and Re-visions of Haiti’, an interdisciplinary programme with keynote speeches by Prof. Matthew J. Smith (University of the West Indies) and Prof. Gina A. Ulysse (Wesleyan University), a public lecture by Prof. Lubaina Himid MBE (University of Central Lancashire), a presentation by Leah Gordon, photographer, filmmaker and co-founder of Haiti’s Ghetto Biennale, and more leading international scholars.
Conference dates: 9-10 July @ University of Central Lancashire. Find out more here.

Opportunities

ghetto Biennale 2015: calls for the 4^th ghetto Biennale are still on. Submissions are invited from artists and curators to explore what potentials the radical tools Kreyol, Vodou and the Lakou have to offer to the contemporary world.
Deadline 5 July 2015. More details here.

Infecting the City 2016: The Africa Centre, Cape Town, is calling for applications from artists and curators for Infecting the City 2016. The festival provides an unusual opportunity for visual art, music, dance and performance to leave the confines of theatres and galleries to engage with, or disrupt, Cape Town’s daily movements.
Deadlines: 30 June (curators), 15 July (artists). More information here.

Art Moves Africa has resumed its programme of travel grants. AMA supports mobility within the African continent by covering the costs of travel, visa and travel insurance for the duration of stay.
The next deadline for applications is 15 July. Visit AMA to find out more.

Announcements

The organisers of the 10^th Bamako Encounters – African Biennale of Photography have announced the names of the photographers and artists selected for the biennial’s Pan-African Exhibition. This edition curated by Bisi Silva with associate curators Yves Chatap and Antawan Byrd, co-produced by the Ministry of Culture of Mali and Institut français, will take place from 31^st October to 31^st December 2015.

See the list of selected photographers.

Exhibitions picks

Images and sounds from the Venice Biennale (until 22 Nov) with a photo gallery and a Venetian Walk by S/QU/NC/R. In London: The View From Here, Tiwani Contemporary (until 27 June); Duane Hanson, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Serpentine Pavilion 2015 at Serpentine Galleries (to Sept.-Oct.); Carsten Höller, Hayward Gallery (until 6 Sept.).

Coming up: Zarina Bhimji – Jangbar, New Art Exchange, Nottingham, opening 15 July.

Watch this space for more art news!