Artists on Africa

According to the world clock on my Apple Mac dashboard Antananarivo is found in Asia and not in Africa (Perhaps the Apple programmers reckoned Madagascar is located in the Indian Ocean; so there). While Asian influence on the Malagasy genome, culture and habitat is undeniable (Apparently the Indonesians got to the island way before anyone...

In September 2014 Is’Art closed shop in Analakely, downtown Antananarivo, which had been its home since 2011 and where over 50 exhibitions have been hosted over just three and half years. Growing ambitions required a larger venue. Such was  found with some luck and the generous benefaction of Philippe and Delphine Andriantsitohaina who made available a now vacant...

Part 2 about Is’Art Galerie and the art scene in Madagascar looks at the local art infrastructure, or rather the lack thereof: About how, for instance, it is possible to study art mediation (basically promotion of the arts) at the university in Antananarivo but how there is not one formal art school in the country...

Is’Art Galerie is the first and still one of the only places dedicated to local contemporary art in Madagascar. Then called ISA Atelier Galerie was founded in 1998 by Richard Razafindrakoto et Rafalimanana Ndremo. When Tahina Rakotoarivony returned to Antananarivo in 2008 after spending four years in France, he took over the reigns from his uncle and teacher. ISA Atelier Galerie...

The long awaited second part of the conversation with Malagasy filmmaker, producer and RFC festival director Laza is finally here. What does it mean to be a full-time artist in a country that does not legally recognise them (No, seriously, the concept of artist as a profession does not exist)? How do you sustain a...

Ten years ago nobody made movies in Madagascar. Then Malagasy filmmaker and producer Laza returned to Antanarivo and launched Rencontres du Film Court, an annual short film festival and series of workshops that has given rise to a new generation of young Malagasy filmmakers – Génération  RFC. Hundreds of fiction, documentary and animation films from...

Award-winning South African filmmaker Kurt Orderson is usually behind the camera. Turns out he is a natural on front of the camera too. So, we didn’t edit much, making the episode a little longer. But definitely worth it. Breathe Again and The Prodigal Son are two of what Kurt refers to as his “home movies” – personal...

Mauro Pinto said it: “Everything is a Story”. And as far as the conversation with Mauro and Goncalo goes, we have only told you half. So we decided to break with our monthly schedule to bring you a bonus episode: Goncalo and Mauro share some of their (more personal) stories about language and learning and tales of...

This month we stay in Maputo and meet photographer, Mauro Pinto, and sculptor, Goncalo Mabunda. Born in the year of the Mozambican Independence (or in the case of Mauro the year just before that) and raised in the decades of the Civil War that followed, these two friends and collaborators share their thoughts on what’s really...

A good friend of mine does not visit Maputo for less than 10 days at a time and I now know why. The city is vibrant and that not just in the wake of the upcoming elections on the 15th of October. Five fast and full days cannot be collapsed into one episode, so we will...

In this second episode, “Artists on Africa” talks to husband and wife team Misheck Masamvu and Georgina Maxim. At the periphery of the Zimbabwean capital, they have built Village Unhu – a multi-purpose space where residencies, workshops, exhibitions, art education and art production converge in pursuit of formulating a movement that will provide answers to the...

In this inaugural episode of “Artists on Africa”, Poet/ Performer Jethro Louw AKA Tanneman !Xam and Hip Hop artist Marco Snyders AKA Maniac showcase how they work the gaps between centre and periphery in their backyard of Kalkfontein (Cape Town, South Africa) by fusing hip hop with indigenous bow sounds and producing low/no-budget documentaries about and...

Just a glimpse of what’s to come. Stay tuned for the first episode. Thank you to the contributors (in order of appearance): Ibrahim Mahama, Godfried Donkor, Emeka Ogboh, Lucy Campbell, Eromo Egbejule, Zina Saro-Wiwa, Kurt Orderson, Burning Museum, Hana El Degham, James Webb, Kunle Adeyemi, Sporedust