‘Africa Doesn’t Make Art’

The genesis of this rather controversial opinion stems from the familiar stereotype on what is art from the lenses of the western art world.

ART | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | It may come as a big surprise that there is still a large section of western art patrons who perceive art from the African continent as inferior and not worthy to spend money on. The genesis of this rather controversial opinion stems from the familiar stereotype on what is art from the lenses of the western art world. Within the vocabulary of many art critics, historians and curators living and working in the West, art is a visual expression of a particular society’s social- cultural and historical values and norms within a given period of time. Incidentally, this form of expression according to their judgment requires a higher level of exposure, creativity and imagination by a particular type of individual or community. This elitist definition naturally, creates exclusivity to who makes art and who doesn’t. Hence, Africa with its “primitive” culture and limited infrastructure becomes an easy target for this isolation. It’s therefore not surprising when one hears in undertones sentiments like Africa doesn’t make art at some of the international art symposiums or high-end exhibitions patronized by elitist art connoisseurs.

The persistent gate-keeping of African art by white curators or the Diaspora- based African curators is clearly an indicator to the patronizing nature of the western art world towards art produced on the continent. Many international exhibitions in the past and present showcasing art from the continent have frequently been curated by the highly acclaimed or celebrity curators, which often has left a bitter taste in the mouth of the African artists and other key art stakeholders on the continent. In the aftermath of the much celebrated Africa95 festival, a landmark and large-scale showcase of a multiplicity of artistic engagements raging from performance and visual arts at the Royal Academy, England, in 1995, the exhibition The Art of a Continent, in particular received a furor of criticism from art scholars on the continent for its depiction of art from Africa as exclusively tribal despite its theme of celebrating a diversity in African culture and challenging the perceived boundaries brought about by colonialism. In her seminal essay, Cultural Celebration or Colonialism, Olabisi Silva questioned the real intent of this blockbuster exhibition if it was meant to celebrate cultural diversity and authenticity with its showcase of over 850 tribal artifacts going back millions of years back or to challenge the colonial ideological hangover of how Africa was divided and backward. In her questioning, she was concerned by the overemphasis of the disparate objects in the exhibition which insinuated that African art was exclusively tribal. This did not help with her sarcastic description of the curator’s efforts as an “ambitious project” which implicitly showed her dissatisfaction with the whole exhibition.

While one may argue it is unfair for the West to continuously stereotype art from Africa and its producers, especially with the way they’re handled by those who possess marginal experience of the continent’s cultural diverse landscape and the actual day to day life experience of its people, on the other hand, there’s an element of justification to this prejudice. The absence of credible art infrastructure in many parts of the continent, save for countries like South Africa and Nigeria, compromises the argument that African art is being marginalized on the global art stage. The failure of African governments and the private sector to invest in art which promotes among other benefits: a tool for self expression enabling people to communicate how they feel about issues which affect them and a medium for cultural heritage conservation where different cultures and their norms, and practices are documented and preserved, creates an absurd image for African art both at home and abroad. The situation is worsened by the common attitude by many artists to follow what is trending in the art market. This inclination unfortunately restricts them from pushing the boundaries of their creativity and they become factories which churn out substandard art.

When art critics speak about Africa doesn’t create art, they’re often referring more on its absurd quality and probably less about what is represents. It is difficult for an African artist to claim that they’re making art if they’re painting exactly like the European Renaissance artists or Modernist artists. This replica representation of their art is suggestive to no creativity and originality where the latter is a critical tenet in art. Equally, if the artists’ exploration of subject matter, technique and material in their work is not directly connected to their personal experiences or immediate surroundings, what they produce becomes suspect to lack of authenticity. Here, we all can vouch for art which is created from locally sourced materials like barkcloth, raffia, polythene bags and other material which communicate a language unique to many African communities past and present. Similarly, the process of working with these materials in any art form amplifies its unique identity and endorses it as genuinely impressive. With such outstanding quality this type of art can find itself in major exhibitions like the Venice Biennale as it subverts the prejudice often attached to art from the continent.

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Image courtesy of the Web.