Afro_Vibes 2019 Exhibition Speak Truth To Power catalogue

ARTIST INFORMATION

AMSTERDAM - ROTTERDAM 4-30 OCTOBER 2019

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AFROVIBES 2019

SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER POP-UP EXHIBITION AT DIFFERENT LOCATIONS AMSTERDAM COMPAGNIE THEATER 3-5 OCTOBER AMSTERDAM DE BALIE 3-30 OCTOBER ROTTERDAM KUNSTHAL 6 - 13 OCTOBER THANIA PETERSEN AMSTERDAM NO MAN’S ART GALLERY 3 - 30 NOVEMBER FREE ENTRY THE EXHIBITION SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER IS CURATED BY INGRID MASONDO AND CATHAL MCKEE

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ARTIST INFORMATION

SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER AMSTERDAM - ROTTERDAM 4-30 OCTOBER 2019 The exhibition presents artworks that reflect the growing frustration and search for the right to speak out to fake news and miscommunication. What is true and real and what is fake?

We have grown up with an overflow of information due to social media and its platforms. Where does the information come from, who distributes it, how is it interpreted and how do we respond to it? Can fierce fight against fake?

THE ARTISTS AL AND FAATIMAH LUKE ELLO XRAY EYEZ HEIDI SINCUBA GARTH WALKER GARY FRIER JULIART JOSEMARIE NYAGAH KEITH VIRGO LISOLOMZI PIKOLI LUNGILE MKOBANE MINENKULU NGOYI POLA MANELI REGGIE KHUMALO SAMANTA TELLO SIBANDA VONGAI SINALO NCGABA VIVIEN KOHLER WES MAPES ZAPIRO ZENANDE MTATI THANIA PETERSEN is the featured artist this year curated by Ingrid Masondo of the Iziko South African National Gallery.

Thania’s works can be seen at different locations including the No Mans Art Gallery.

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AFROVIBES 2019

FEATURED ARTIST

THANIA PETERSEN South Africa

BIOGRAPHY Thania Petersen is part of the Speak Truth to Power exhibition with material from her series I am Royal. In which she imagines with costumes and set pieces the locations in South Africa of slavery and forced relocations. A new perspective on the colonial history of South Africa, the Netherlands and Indonesia and the role of Islam in this. Thania Petersen received an Award from the Thami Mnyele Foundation.

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ARTIST INFORMATION

Islam in South Africa was a spiritual place that offered security to people oppressed by slavery and apartheid. In her performance Unravel. Thania Petersen as a South African Muslim uses the Islamic tapestries to express the threat to this spiritual place. A threat from physical violence and from Wahabism, a conservative ideology that is not endorsed by Muslims in South Africa. Petersen challenges contemporary prejudices about her faith.

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AFROVIBES 2019

ILLUSTRATION

AL LUKE South Africa

SEEKING TRUTH: DISCOVERY

BIOGRAPHY Al Luke (ALFA) is a creative based in Cape Town, South Africa.

His work incorporates an expressive abstract style with the aim of visually translating personal and societal behaviour and connection. We are living in a time where technology and access to information is at an all time high. With this new found access being easier than ever it has become more important than ever to find and understand what is true. For every 1 truth there is an alternate truth which aims to discredit and influence opinions and decision making. Therein lies our challenge - to seek out the truth at all costs.

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ARTIST INFORMATION

ILLUSTRATION

FAATIMAH MOHAMED-LUKE South Africa

THE TRUTH ABOUT TRUTH

BIOGRAPHY Faatimah Mohamed-Luke is a visual artist and designer based in Cape Town. Three years ago, she resigned from the fashion industry to focus on art and interior design. Her aim is to reintroduce the art form of tessellation in a thoroughly modern way, utilising plastic building blocks to create large scale artworks. What I love most about it, is that it is a non traditional art medium and comes with no expectations but it has its own unique set of challenges. I believe that challenging an established environment and challenging society is an essential part of an artists work.

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AFROVIBES 2019

ILLUSTRATION

ELLO XRAY EYEZ South Africa

BIOGRAPHY Ello (Xray Eyez) is a visual artist/designer from South Africa, living and working in Cape Town. Inspired by comics, animations, reality versus the made up world and invisible elements like time, her work is predominantly character-based with an unknown narrative. The viewer is left to find relevant connections to their own iconography. Working with themes of memories, fun times, feels, real life characters and personal relevance, friends and pop culture references often appear but is not always obvious.

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ARTIST INFORMATION

ILLUSTRATION

GARTH WALKER South Africa

© GARTH WALKER 2019

© GARTH WALKER 2019

© GARTH WALKER 2019

© GARTH WALKER 2019

SAY NO TO FAKE NEWS

BIOGRAPHY Garth started out as a graphic designer in the mid-1970s. His real interest lies is in “what makes me African – and what does that look like?” Since 1995 he has self-published his experimental studio magazine ijusi, to worldwide acclaim. His work is represented in the collections or libraries of the Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Minneapolis Art Institute, International Center of Photography, National Portrait Gallery (UK), Boston Institute of Contemporary Art, Biblioteque Nationale de France, to name a few.

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AFROVIBES 2019

ILLUSTRATION

GARY FRIER South Africa

SNAKES ON A DREAM

BIOGRAPHY Gary Frier was born in Cape Town and grew up in the then segregated northern suburb of Kuilsriver in the western cape.

After working in various design industries Gary moved to create art of a more personal nature. He has exhibited extensively both locally and abroad including institutions and galleries. “I believe that making art is a compulsive act of self-expression that can only be realized through the collaborative act of creating and experiencing. Creating art for me is about constantly reflecting on my place in reality.�

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ARTIST INFORMATION

PHOTOGRAPHY

HEIDI SINCUBA South Africa

BIOGRAPHY Heidi Sincuba is a South African artist and speculative thinker who embodies the erotic as power against violence, toxicity and erasure.

Amahlaya Endlela (2018-present) Amahlaya Endlela means sex without penetration and directly translates to: “the fun of the road�. Through their smartphone, the artist traces evidence of this slippage through fallen braids strewn across the country. Anonymous as they are, each evokes movement and time, and ultimately desire and futility. While they are called singles in vernacular spaces, they are a collective symbol of black womxnhood which perpetually marks our gendered and racialized landscape.

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AFROVIBES 2019

ILLUSTRATION

JOSEMARIE NYAGAH Kenya

RESURGENCE

BIOGRAPHY Josemarie Nyagah is a young artist from Kenya. She studied her BA in Peace and Conflict Resolution and recently finished her honours degree in Cinematography. Josemarie believes in using art as a medium to shift perceptions and craft transformation in society.

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ARTIST INFORMATION

MIXED MEDIA

JULIART Namibia

WORKSHOP

BIOGRAPHY Julia Hango, better known as JuliArt, plays with various artistic techniques. Many of her digitally created photographs and paintings are surreal and thought-provoking as they are layered with movement and emotion that give the artworks an exploratory three-dimensional space, challenging the notions of sexuality and gender.

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AFROVIBES 2019

PHOTOGRAPHY

KEITH VIRGO South Africa

ART OF THE BODY

BIOGRAPHY Keith Sphiwe Mpumelelo Dliwayo better know by his artist name Keith Virgo, is a 25 year old multidisciplinary artist from Johannesburg and is currently based in Cape Town, South Africa.

He works in the mediums of visual arts stemming from the love of story telling. His work mainly speaks about the different facets of present surroundings and events that occur in our external and internal every day lives based on personal experiences.

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ARTIST INFORMATION

ILLUSTRATION

LISOLOMZI PIKOLI South Africa

SOUTHERN ANATOMY

BIOGRAPHY Lisolomzi Pikoli is a visual artist/illustrator from South Africa.

His work aims to interpret the mechanics of the modern world and our inherited wisdoms through the human figure and its relationship to line, shape, form and time.

The bitter sweet nature of South Africa. A land of abundance and poverty, a sound constitution in a self ravenging state, the sun never sets on my beloved, our cradle and its southern anatomy.

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AFROVIBES 2019

PHOTOGRAPHY

LUNGILE MKOBANE South Africa

BIOGRAPHY Lungile Mbokane born 16 March 1991 and a BA Graphic Design graduate based in Johannesburg. Initially in life I wanted to become a pilot and travel the world but as I grew older my dreams changed and art took over, now I see myself as a young inspired artist who is always striving to achieve greatness in the creative world.

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ARTIST INFORMATION

ILLUSTRATION

MINENKULU NGOYI South Africa

BIOGRAPHY In 2012 Minenkulu Ngoyi graduated from Artist Proof Studio in Johannesburg, a renowned community-based printmaking studio.

Ngoyi is very active in creative workshops and collectives he co-founded Alphabet Zoo (also with Isaac Zavale), a Johannesburg street-culture zine that invites collaboration from young talented artists, illustrators, publishers and designers.

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AFROVIBES 2019

ILLUSTRATION

POLA MANELI South Africa

NEW TESTAMENT

BIOGRAPHY Pola Maneli is a Port Elizabeth-based communications designer working as an illustrator. Known for combining illustration with graphic design principles and using vernacular iconography and pattern making, Maneli creates authentic artworks that play up South African stereotypes. Maneli’s work also references various social issues in South Africa, more specifically HIV and AIDS, in the hope of addressing the stigma associated with the syndrome.

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ARTIST INFORMATION

MIXED MEDIA

REGGIE KHUMALO South Africa

DON’T SAY A WORD

BIOGRAPHY An Adventurer, Artist, TV Producer, Biker and Entrepreneur.

Having stayed in most Southern African countries with his Dad being a businessman and traveling country to country with him, Reggie got well acquainted with business and adventure from a tender age. In 2001 his father passed away, he was then forced to manage most of his father’s businesses. Which taught him to be a strong and independent young man. Deciding to follow his dreams and vision, he felt a calling for the Arts.

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AFROVIBES 2019

ILLUSTRATION

SAMANTA TELLO USA

FOUR CONGRESS WOMEN

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BIOGRAPHY Born in Barcelona, raised in Madrid, Spain, and studied Fine and now lives and works in San Francisco. It is my belief that we can rise above our anger and remove the barriers to our success – by talking and communicating our thoughts to each other, redefining our own expectations, and never assuming that we must play fixed, female roles. Every day, I am reminded how women are agents of change. Through my work, I try to send a message of empowerment – graphically demonstrating how our once-silenced voices and unheard ideas, when brought together, can promote strength.

ARTIST INFORMATION

ILLUSTRATION

SIBANDA VONGAI Zimbabwe

CAN’T SEE MYSELF BECAUSE OF VOICE IN MY HEAD

BIOGRAPHY 22, a storyteller from Zimbabwe. Using photography to voice their different lives in Zimbabwe. Capturing sensuality, sexuality, vulnerability and different identities in challenging settings around my city.

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AFROVIBES 2019

MIXED MEDIA

SINALO NCGABA South Africa

DESIGNER ORIGINAL

BIOGRAPHY I’m an illustrator/designer born and raised in East London.

I fell in Love with with art and design when I took on Textile Design as a subject in High School. After that I tried fashion and communication design which helped me gain graphic skills.

I still enjoy traditional pen illustration more. I draw most of my inspiration from everything around me, music, other artists etc.

I draw what I like.

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ARTIST INFORMATION

MIXED MEDIA

VIVIEN KOHLER South Africa

THE SMUG MOUSER

BIOGRAPHY Vivien Kohler was born in Cape Town in 1976, and lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa. In 2017 Kohler received the Thami Mnyele Sculpture Merit Award, in 2013 won the Lovell Gallery Artist Competition, and in 2012 won the ItWeb/ Brainstorm Competition with an entry commissioned by Vodacom. His work is housed in public and private collections including the Nandos, Hollard, SAB and Fusion UK collections.

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AFROVIBES 2019

ILLUSTRATION

ZAPIRO

South Africa

BIOGRAPHY Jonathan Shapiro is a South African cartoonist, known as Zapiro, whose work appears in numerous South African publications and has been exhibited internationally on many occasions. His arrest under the Illegal Gatherings Act caused some consternation in the SADF and his being monitored by military intelligence while also participating in the End Conscription Campaign, and designing its logo. His work as a cartoonist began in earnest with a wide range of political and progressive organisations.

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ARTIST INFORMATION

ILLUSTRATION

ZENANDE MTATI South Africa

SIKHANGELA INKULULEKO

BIOGRAPHY Zenande is a self-taught visual artist who has recently stepped into the professional art world, a Film graduate from City Varsity Cape Town, and a photographer/visual artist from East London, he is currently based in Johannesburg in pursuit of an art career.

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AFROVIBES 2019

SIX YEARS AFROVIBES POP UP EXHIBITIONS

In 2017, Cathal McKee initiated Fiercepop.com an Art Start up that provides a platform for emerging artists to express their thoughts and ideas and create opportunity to share, sell and socialise their work.

Fiercepop believes fiercely in making art accessible by location and by price.

EXHIBITIONS 2014 Fearless Renewal 2015 Bleeding Edge 2016 Fierce.Now

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2018 Portraits of Land 2017 Womxn 2019 Speak Truth to Power

ARTIST INFORMATION

AFROVIBES AND FIERCEPOP SUPPORTS EMERGING ARTISTS

AIRICH ALBERTA WHITTLE ALFA ATANG TSHIKARE AUDREY ANDERSON BLACK KOKI 2 BOP BELINDA LEE LUDEK BEVAN DE WET BEN EAGLE BONOLO HELEN CHEPAPE CHIMURENGA CHRIS SAUNDERS CYZO (JOEL MATLADI) DAVID TSOKA DEAN HUTTON ELLO XRAY EYEZ FAATIMAH MOHAMED-LUKE FRANCOIS FERREIRA GARTH WALKER GARY FRIER HEIDI SINCUBA ISAAC ZAVELE ISABEL MERTZ JARRETT ERASMUS JUDITH WESTERVELD JULIART KAY KAY RIBANE KEITH VIRGO KEYEZUA KHAYALETHU WITBOOI LARA KLAWIKOWSKI LINDOKUHLE SOBHEKWA LEHLOGONOLO MASHABA LEETCHI SAN LAZI GREIISPACES LEETCHISAN LERATO NKOSI

LISOLOMZI PIKOLI LOUIS DE VILLIERS LUNGILE MKOBANE MAXHOSA BY LADUMA MALA BRYAN MARY LEE MAKUNYE MINENKULU NGOYI MOMO KHOSI MOHAU MODISAKENG MZWANDILE BUTHELEZI NAOMI VAN NIEKERK NEGRITUDE REPUBLIC NARDSTAR* (NADIA FISCHER) PATRICIA KAERSENHOUT PICHULIK POLA MANELLI REGGIE KHUMALO RENEE ROSSOUW RODAN KANE HART R!OT (SINDISO NYONI) RICHARD HART SAKOUZY SAMANTA TELLO STIAAN LOUW SKINNY LAMINX SI MACLENNAN SINALO NCGABA SANELE OMARI CALI SIFISO TEMA STHEMBISO ZWANE TAO FARREN TYLER DOLAN VIVIEN KOHLER SIBANDA VONGAI WES MAPES ZAPIRO ZENANDE MTASI

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