EXILE Press I - Exile Press II
The Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists is pleased to present Reflections in Exile: Five Contemporary African Artists Respond to Social Injustice.
from June 1 to July 27, 2008.
View Exiles Exhibition
Reflections in Exile features installations by Ilona Anderson of South Africa, Khalid Kodi of the Sudan, and Salem Mekuria of Ethiopia, posters by Chaz Mayivane-Davies of Zimbabwe, and paintings by Ezra Wube of Ethiopia. The exhibition was co-organized with the South Shore Art Center co-curated by Candice Smith-Corby. The catalogue was underwritten by a gift from BJ and Steve Andrus.
In Reflections, the artists comment critically on riveting issues afflicting their homelands and Africa at large from their studios in the United States. For them, the United States provides a context from which a clearer perspective on their homelands can be gained within a supportive artistic and intellectual community.
View Exiles Exhibition
Sudan, the native land of Khalid Kodi, has recently emerged from a long civil war only to opening a new front of violence in the Darfur region. Sudanese history has frictions deriving from religious differences between Muslims, Christians and animists, as well as animosities from the era of slave trading that once gripped the region. There are also frictions between tribal and cosmopolitan life styles and values, and struggles between agriculturalists and herders over land uses. Geographically the largest country in Africa, Sudan’s myriad socio-political, demographic and typographical challenges have led to human abuses, social dislocation and violence. In Violence Transformed, Khalid addresses the disruption of life and degradation of human worth that blights contemporary Sudan through the tragic story of Hawa Haggam, a woman whose family was killed by janjawid raiders.
Chaz Maviyane-Davies’ brilliantly designed posters offer biting comments on political and cultural conditions throughout Africa, but especially in his native Zimbabwe. The posters target anti-democratic forces, social and economic injustice, corruption and militarism while urging citizens to become politically active and vote. His startling juxtaposed images, pithy phases, and traditional wisdom underscore that justice will prevail only if it is fought for and defended.
South Africa has grave problems that, despite the noble work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, still plague it. Apartheid left behind enormous gaps between the rich and the poor, as well as bitter feelings of racism and inequality. Perverse workforce practices separated men from their families for long period of time laying the foundation for such severe social and health problems such as HIV/AIDS, as well as domestic conflicts. Combined with Apartheid’s psychological distortions, these conditions have made South Africa a very violent society. In Forced Removal, Ilona Anderson turns a spotlight on domestic violence essentialized around the bed.
Ethiopia and its people shared a deep pride in their national history. Nevertheless that history was upended by persistent patriarchal privileges, archaic governmental structures, and mismanagement of a famine that ravished the countryside in the late l960s. Following the Imperial collapse of the early l970s, an unsuccessful Marxist-Leninist state emerges and failed causing extreme social disruption.
As if the disruption of the revolution was not enough, the famine continued and a civil war—that was eventually lost—was underway with Eritrea. Against this background, Ezra Wube comments on dislocation in works where villagers seem to transverse vast panoramic expanses. Salem Mekuria, also from Ethiopia, used three simultaneous film screens to explore the hardships and difficulties that face communities when disrupted by poverty and political unrest. She interrogates patriarchy and cultural assumptions that disempower women, preventing them from fully realizing their autonomous creative potential.
The artists of this exhibition care about the world in which they live. They care especially about the people of the lands of their birth, and the conflicts that beset them. They use their art to call our attention to matters of fundamental human worth, peace, compassion and justice.
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Artists
Ilona Anderson (South Africa) is a painter, threads (embroidery) and installation artist. She studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts/Tufts University (MFA, 1990). Recent exhibitions venues include the NESAD Gallery, Boston; DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA; and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Museum in South Africa. Her honors include a Fulbright Fellowship, and grants from the Berkshire Taconic Trust, the Artist Foundation and the St. Botolph Club Foundation. She teaches at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.
Khalid Kodi (Sudan) is a painter, sculptor and installation artist. He studied art in the United Arab Emirates, and the Massachusetts College of Art (MFA). He has been a principal in several international projects focusing on violence in the Sudan such as the Darfur Tent Project. Exhibition venues include two one-person shows at the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists; African American Master Artists in Residency Program, Northeastern University; Herbert Johnson Museum, Cornell University, among many others. He teaches at Boston College, Boston, MA.
Chaz Maviyane-Davies (Zimbabwe) is a graphic designer and political activist. He studied at the Central School of Art and Design (MA) and the Central St. Martins School of Art and Design (Filmmaking), both in London, England. Additionally, he studied 3-D design in Japan and worked in Malaysia on international projects for the International organization of Consumers Unions and the JUST World Trust. From l983-2000, he operated his own studio in Harare, Zimbabwe. His honors include the Honour Laureate at the 13 th Colorado International Poster Exhibition, Anthon Beeke International Design Award, Amsterdam; and invited lecturer for the Society of Boston Printmakers/Boston Public Library. He teaches at the Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA.
Salem Mekuria (Ethiopia) is a film producer, writer, director and video artists.
For many years, we worked with NOVA, the award-winning PBS science documentary series produced by WBGH-TV. Her honors include fellowships from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Fulbright Foundation, New England Media Program, Rockefeller Foundation’s Intercultural Media Program, Lila-Wallace Reader’s Digest International Residency Program and the Bunting Institute of Harvard University. She teaches at Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA.
Ezra Wube (Ethiopia) is a painter and video artist. He studied at the Massachusetts College of Art (BFA), and subsequently conducted research in Ethiopia on folktales and traditional lore. He is presently completing an MFA program at Hunter College, New York, NY.
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