The Global Africa Project
The Global Africa Project explored the broad spectrum of contemporary African art, design, and craft worldwide. Featuring work of more than 100 artists working in Africa, Europe, Asia, the United States, and the Caribbean, the exhibition surveyed the rich pool of new talent emerging from the African continent and around the world. Through furniture, architecture, textiles, fashion, jewelry, ceramics, and basketry, as well as selective examples of photography, painting, sculpture, and installation work, the exhibition actively challenged conventional notions of a singular African aesthetic and identity and reflected the integration of African art and design without making the usual distinctions between “professional” and “artisan.”
In conjunction with the exhibition, American designer Stephen Burks was commissioned to create an installation, Are You a Hybrid?, which examined the impact and influence of Africa on contemporary design.
The Global Africa Project was organized around several thematic ideas, including the phenomenon of intersecting cultures and cultural fusion; the branding and co-opting of cultural references; how art and design are promoted in the international market and the creative global scene; the use of local materials; and the impact of art-making on the economic and social condition of local communities. The themes encouraged audiences to discern how global African artists grapple with the commodification of art production and the meaning and value of art in society—an increasingly significant issue for nations in a rapidly changing global context.
The exhibition featured well-known figures such as Yinka Shonibare, MBE, Kehinde Wiley, and Fred Wilson; Nigerian-born, London-based fashion designer Duro Olowu; and Paris-based Togolese/Brazilian designer Kossi Aguessy, who has collaborated with Yves Saint Laurent, Cartier, and Swarovski; to the Gahaya Links Weaving Association, a collaborative of Hutu and Tutsi women working in traditional basketry techniques in Rwanda.
The Global Africa Project is organized by the Museum of Arts and Design and the Center for Race and Culture, the Maryland Institute College of Art. The exhibition is co-curated by Lowery Stokes Sims, MAD’s Charles Bronfman International Curator, and Leslie King-Hammond, MICA’s Founding Director of the Center for Race and Culture and Dean Emerita of Graduate Studies, and it is designed by Gboyega Designworks and MAD’s curator of exhibitions, Dorothy Globus.
The Global Africa Project is made possible by the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation as part of its International Cultural Engagement initiative, with additional support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The Rockefeller Foundation, HSBC Bank USA, N.A., and a group of private donors. Major support for the exhibition catalog has been provided by Basil Alkazzi, who gave additional funds in memory of Judi Hoffman.
Corporate support provided by Bloomberg.
