THE ART & CULTURE MOVEMENTS PULLING US TO THE MOTHERLAND
Two cultural events played out on the continent over the holidays. Both called attention to the growing global influence of Africans across creative disciplines e.g., art, music, fashion architecture. The launch of Amoako Boafo’s Ghana Residency and Chicagoans Vic Mensa and Chance the Rapper’s launch of the Black Star Line Festival in Accra were globally attended events. Joining Boafo was his Chicago gallerist Mariane Ibrahim.
Both these events bring to mind FESTAC 77, the 2nd World Festival of Black and African Arts, a global Black Diaspora event held in Lagos, Nigeria in 1977. It was the second global event of its kind and the largest. Pigment recently hosted a Salon Talk with Dr. Yaounde Olu who was in attendance at FESTAC 77. Other Black art luminaries in attendance included Bettye Saar and Jae Jarrell of AfriCOBRA, who curated the festival’s fashion events, and Chicago photographer Kofi Moyo.
In 2022 Pigment Magazine won its second Ozzie Award for Best Cover Design featuring the work of Lagos based artist REWA. The influence of African artists in the global arena continues to proliferate and look for Pigment International to report more as we prepare to attend the 1–54 Contemporary African Art Fair, the leading international art fair dedicated to contemporary art from Africa and the African diaspora. 1–54 Marrakech will be the fourth edition in Morocco, after a three-year hiatus, and will take place from 9–12 February 2023 (Press preview 9 February).
The 2023 Marrakech edition will welcome 20 exhibitors, including eight galleries from the African continent (four of which are based in Morocco), and 12 galleries which will participate at 1–54 Marrakech for the first time. Newcomers to Marrakech include Foreign Agent (Lausanne, Switzerland), HOA Galeria (Sao Paulo, Brazil), La Galerie 38 (Casablanca, Morocco), Mmarthouse (Johannesburg, South Africa), Superposition Gallery (Miami Beach, USA), and TEMPLON (Paris, France).
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