GLOBETROTTER: BEST ART EXHIBITIONS

This week we’re taking a look at the best global art exhibitions, tying in with Temple Muse’s commitment to promoting African up-and-coming and established artists and designers.

1:54 Exhibition: Global Locations

The globe-trotting 1:54 exhibition sets up camp in London, New York and Marrakech. Started by Touria El Glaoui in 2013, the travelling fair showcases contemporary African art from the continent, including artists Omar Bey, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami and Emo de Medeiros plus many more. Having just finished its London 2017 leg of the tour, 1:54 moves on to Marrakech for 24-25 February 2018. Not one to miss out on.

'Healing Arts’ at The Smithsonian: Washington DC

The Smithsonian is the National Museum of African Art, found in Washington DC. You can find a number of exhibitions of art from the African continent at this powerful institution, including the fascinating ‘Healing Arts’. Featuring works of art created to counter physical, social and spiritual problems, the artists (some of them anon) bridge the gap between conceptual and physical in connecting bodies with art. An exhibition sure to challenge your way of thinking.

REWA at GAFRA: London

Emerging Nigerian artist REWA can now be found at GAFRA, a gallery dedicated to presenting the very best of 20th century African art. REWA’s collection explores female identity, and the bond that connects all women. Through “Her Story”, REWA seeks to celebrate womanhood and the “Sisterhood that Transcends”.

‘Making Africa’: Atlanta

Featuring artists typically housed at Cacaart, Geneva (the largest private collection of contemporary African art), the ‘Making Africa’ exhibition offers a look at African design through a diverse range of design mediums, from sculpture to furniture. The exhibition provides a glimpse of 21st century Africa for you to get stuck into, a continent of rapid growth, cultural transformation, and innovation.

'Wounded Negatives' at Zeitz MOCAA: Cape Town

The Centre for the Moving Image at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa kicks off its inaugural exhibition with the work of Malawian artist Samson Kambalu. Kambalu's work focuses on the fact that global migration is now the norm rather than the exception. It works to liberate us from associating identity with a fixed geographical location, via new mediums offered by ever-developing technology. A fascinating exhibition designed to upend norms and question the everyday.