UBUNTU

UBUNTU

I Am Because We Are

an exhibition organized especially for the World Trade Organization

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION & AFRICANA ART FOUNDATION

“ IF WE CHOOSE TO WE CAN CHANGE WE WORK, HOW

“

ELEVATE HUMANITY, THE WAY HOW WE LIVE & WE LEAD TOGETHER.

– SHOLA RICHARDS

CONTENTS

09

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA

ANDREIA LUKENY SILVA World Trade Organization

AFRICANA Art Foundation

LOUISE STEFANII

AFRICANA Art Foundation

UBUNTU: I AM BECAUSE WE ARE

12 TOGETHERNESS CARING SHARING COMMUNITY HELPFULNESS TRUST ALTRUISM

CREDITS

THE BENCH, NENGI OMUKU, 2021

Acknowledgments

World Trade Organization

African art and artists are often unknown or underappreciated. It is therefore a pleasure to welcome you to two exhibitions, both produced in collaboration with AFRICANA Art Foundation. The first, held at the WTO Centre William Rappard, is called UBUNTU: I Am Because We Are. The second, held at the Geneva International Conference Centre, showcases works from AFRICANA’s Collection

Both exhibitions feature talented African artists from across the continent. UBUNTU is entirely made up of female artists. This selection mirrors our goals for the future of Africa; we strive to make the continent a place where youth can thrive and where women are not only equally appreciated, but also important members and leaders of society.

On behalf of the WTO, its members and staff, I would like to thank AFRICANA for championing African art and artists.

“For every woman who steps forward, more space is made for the women who come after”

DR. NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA Director - General

Acknowledgments

AFRICANA Art Foundation

AFRICANA would like to express its deepest gratitude for inviting us and allowing us to showcase these incredible African artists to a multinational and exquisite audience. A special thank you to Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for bringing us here.

I would also like to thank and show our appreciation for all the artists in our exhibitions. AFRICANA goes beyond being a foundation. It’s a community which strives to open doors, especially those that have been closed for a long time. We celebrate multiculturality, creativity, openness, and exchange, and aspire to demonstrate what can be achieved when shared human values meet the desire for positive change. We hope you will take this opportunity to immerse yourselves in our vision, so that together we can contribute to a flourishing African culture.

ANDREIA LUKENY SILVA Board Member

Letter from the Curator

In a broad sense, “philosophy” refers to the search for knowledge that began when humans first started to understand the world through reason. In an academic sense, the word is used to designate the set of metaphysical conceptions about the world.

During the colonial era, colonists were forever in search of ways to diminish and degrade conquered territories and their peoples. One key way was known as “scientific racism,” which justified white supremacism using pseudoscience. The result was the stifling of African philosophy, as well as beliefs and culture more generally. African philosophy only began to reemerge in the twentieth century, revealing complexity and sophistication of thought on par with anything Western European culture had produced. One example is the philosophy of UBUNTU: the central focus of one of the exhibitions created especially for the World Trade Organization. The other, Selected Works From AFRICANA Art Foundation’s Collection, showcases the inspiring art of talented emerging African artists.

UBUNTU, which recognizes common humanity, togetherness, and generosity, is a particularly powerful philosophy bridging ethnic, linguistic, and regional boundaries. It no doubt flourished as Africans sought to reconnect and rebuild in the wake of colonization. A shared vision of the world was proposed with “creator energy,” whether this be from the germination of plants or the fertilization of women, as the fundamental value.

Recently, a new, invisible enemy has arisen, one we all have in common. In the face of it, we have been forced to socially distance ourselves, not shake hands, to be away from our loved ones, to be more individualist. Yet, despite this and all the suffering and loss, we have seen an unprecedented coming together. Now, more than ever, we have to remind ourselves of our combined power. Together, not only can we defeat this deadly virus, but we can finally address the mistakes of the past, and denounce both intellectual and territorial imperialism.

I would like to thank Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for allowing us to champion African art in such a prestigious venue. I would also like to thank Alexandre Costa Lopes, AFRICANA Art Foundation’s visionary president, who has dedicated most of his life to supporting the arts in Africa. Our Board of Trustees is formed mostly by women, as the president wishes to empower women at every level. Finally, I must thank my colleagues and board members for their dedication, care, and support. This foundation, which operates like a family, aims to solidify the idea that Africa, beyond being the place where we all came from, is the teacher we all need, especially at this pressing moment in history.

LOUISE STEFANII Founder-Director & Curator AFRICANA Art Foundation

TOGETHERNESS CARING SHARING COMMUNITY HELPFULNESS TRUST ALTRUISM

UBUNTU I Am Because We Are

The term UBUNTU comes from the Zulu phrase “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu,” which roughly translates as “a person is a person through other people” or “I am because we are.” As both definitions imply, it’s a philosophy of shared humanity rooted in kindness, compassion, and connectedness. Various African languages have words with similar significations: “Unhu” in Shona; “Utu” in Swahili; “Unundu” in Kikuyu; “Bomoto” in Lingala; and “Kimuntu” in Kikongo.

Can you imagine if the world were to pursue UBUNTU? If we were to set aside our selfish ambitions and embrace one another? Trust and respect one another? We could change everything. How we live and lead. How our children follow. UBUNTU is a way of living that begins with the premise of “I am” only because “we are.” I borrowed this premise for the title of the exhibition, which I specially conceived for the World Trade Organization. Eight female artists were invited to create artworks that embody UBUNTU. Coming from Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, these artists and their works express unity in diversity. We should not underestimate the power of art; I am confident that these women will empower others and inspire a better tomorrow. The artists in this exhibition all embody UBUNTU in some way. In their lives and work, they strive to find our shared humanity and inspire others to shape those ethical values of connectedness and interdependency within society.

THE ARTISTS

AFRICANA ART FOUNDATION

ARTISTS

Jess Atieno is informed by inquiries into place, home, and dispossession, all viewed through a post-colonial lens. Such themes, and relevant ones such as race and identity, have become all the more gripping since moving to Chicago, where she is currently pursuing an MFA at the School of the Art Institute. She received initial training at the Asiko School of Art in Lagos, Nigeria. Her work has been exhibited around the world. Exhibitions include, I Will See What I Want to See, Circle Art Gallery, (Nairobi, 2019); 730 Servings of Yesterday’s Terror, Lagos Biennale (Lagos, 2019); The Making of Worlds, Festung Hohensalzburg (Salzburg, 2018); Being Her(e), Banco Economico (Luanda, 2017); and Here & Here, Àsìkò Addis Ababa Final Exhibition, Asni Gallery (Addis Ababa, 2016).

In 2019, Atieno was awarded the Bisi Silva Scholarship, which granted her a place in the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg, Austria.

JESS ATIENO

(b. 1991, Kenya)

As much as I believe this is a beautiful lesson for humanity, I believe that the state of humanity is far too gone. Capitalism, terror, inequalities, racism, neocolonialism and crimes against humanity are the markers of our time.

Poetic individual efforts like UBUNTU are simply not enough to go against these machineries controlled by deep states and those in positions of power.

NO ANIMAL COULD STAND AGAINST HIM, NONE COULD BE RESCUED FROM HIS POWER, 2021 SCREEN PRINT ON CANVAS 365.8 X 233.7 CM

Jess Atieno maintains a practice informed by inquiries on place, home, and dispossession through the lens of the post-colonial. She sees herself as carrying inscriptions of a colonial past, and studying as an adult in the USA made her increasingly unable to situate herself in a static reality of belonging.

In this current body of work, Atieno time travels into history through its material remains: historical photographs, maps and documents, employing them in prints, installations, and tapestry. She turns to the idea of place as the transformative site of hybridity that offers alternative strategies for new models of representation.

ANITA KAVOCHY (b.1993,

Kenya)

Anita Kavochy draws, paints, and experiments on different mediums and materials. Her work seeks to re/cover the layers of emotions that constitute the self and its relationship to the world.

Home and belonging are important themes in her oeuvre, the result of being born in the densely-populated Kibera slums.

Kavochy began studying at Buru Buru Institute of Fine Art in 2014 and joined Maasai Mbili Artist Collective that same year. She is very much informed by what she learned working alongside other artists from the collective, exhibiting alongside them, collaboratively, and individually.

When I think of UBUNTU I think about human personalities, (motho ke motho ka batho) A person is a person through other people. How do we live relating to each other? Coming from the slums I grew up seeing, interacting with and trying to understand different human personas and faces. That is how we live together!

YOU KNOW THEM WHEN YOU STAY WITH THEM, 2021 MIXED MEDIA AND COLLAGE ON RECYCLED CARPET

In You Know Them When You Stay With Them, a girl tries to break free from the bonds of trauma and manipulation. The weight of it all is overwhelming; she needs to liberate herself. To find the light again, compassion, and love. To live her life. Live her dreams with others, with humanity. We have to be willing to say who we are! If you wear a mask for too long you will forget who you are beneath it.

In Ray of Hope, there is no shame in surviving. Sometimes being a hero means making sacrifices. This means reliving pain and trauma and forgiving again and again, accepting and starting over. That is hope in itself.

1993, South Africa)

TERESA KUTALA FIRMINO (b.

She received her MA in Fine Arts from the University of the Witwatersrand, and is part of the collective Kutala Chopeto, which started as an investigation into the collective’s shared history of the 32 Battalion, which settled in Pomfret after the Border War.

Firmino’s exhibitions include solo shows at Everard Read, London, and The Point of Order, Johannesburg. Her work has also been exhibited at Goodman Gallery, Cape Town; Nirox Sculpture Winter Fair, Johannesburg; and Luanda Museum of Natural History, Angola

Teresa Kutala Firmino is a multimedia artist based in Johannesburg working with paint, photography, and performance. In her work, she negotiates trauma, both personal and collective, constructing scenes of past and present, which are sometimes intertwined.

UBUNTU is very much connected to my sense of belonging. My family have been called nomads, migrants and refugees. My sense of belonging is not connected to a fixed space but to the various communities I belong to. Through them I experience UBUNTU.

Photo: Michael Hall

SITTING FOR THE ARTIST 1, 2019

ACRYLIC AND COLLAGE ON CANVAS 108 X 76 CM

AFRICANA ART FOUNDATION COLLECTION

Sitting for the Artist 1 came about as part of Firmino’s desire to pose for herself. The result is a portrait that presents hidden facets of herself.

CASSI NAMODA

(b. 1988, Mozambique)

Cassi Namoda is a painter and performance artist who explores the intricacies of social dynamics through vivid scenes that intermingle the heartfelt with the absurd, the quotidian with the cosmic, the joyous with the macabre.

Born in Maputo to a Mozambican mother and American father, Namoda uses her work to negotiate the intricacies of mixed cultural heritage, intricacies that reflect the wider cultural dynamics of a formerly colonized nation in an increasingly globalized world.

Her work is held in the public collections of the Studio Museum in Harlem; Inhotim Institute, Brazil; K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong; and Pérez Art Museum Miami. Recent solo exhibitions have been held at Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg; Pippi Houldsworth, London; Nina Johnson Gallery, Miami; and François Ghebaly, Los Angeles. Her work has also been included in exhibitions at Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute, New York; Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, New York; CFHILL, Stockholm; and Library Street Collective, Detroit.

Courtesy of the Artist and François Ghebaly, Photo: Jenny Gorman

UBUNTU is about shared humanity, offering a helping hand without questioning who you are helping or why, because we are all family.

UBUNTU is understanding we are one with society, therefore we need to uplift and care for each other.

This philosophy can be applied to all aspects of life and make a significant, positive difference.

—Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

SHE PENDS BY THE BAR, 2019

ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

76 X 101.5 CM

AFRICANA ART FOUNDATION COLLECTION

A recurring figure in Namoda’s work is a woman named Maria.

Maria represents multifaceted femininity, encompassing a wide variety of female roles in post-colonial Mozambique. Maria is kind, holy, and vivacious, and at the same time, melancholic, moody, and profane.

MARIA EMOTIONALLY LISTENS TO CESARIA EVORA “SAUDADES” AS

NENGI OMUKU

(b.1987, Nigeria)

Nengi Omuku is inspired by the politics of the body, as well as interiority and the workings of the mind. In her oil paintings, which draw from archival photos and personal experiences, she interrogates how individuals navigate place, constantly questioning the nature of identity and belonging. She favors sanyan as a medium, a pre-colonial, western Nigerian fabric. The combination of oil paints and sanyan speaks to a livingbetween-cultures, while at the same time firmly contextualizing her work within her local setting.

She completed her BA and MA at the Slade School of Fine Art, University College, London. She has had solo shows in Lagos, London, Berlin, New York, and institutional shows in Paris, at La Galerie Centre d’Art Contemporain, and in Lagos, at the Yemisi Shyllon Museum of Art. Her work can be found in private and public collections such as the HSBC Art Collection, the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, and the Dawn Art Collection. She lives and works in Lagos.

As Ngozi OkonjoIweala notes, “trade is about people.”

This phrase embodies the spirit of humanity towards others, also known as UBUNTU. It speaks of the universal bond of sharing and coming together in solidarity, a central theme in my practice.

Lighthouse, conceived and created during my residency with the WTO, is about gathering; it is about coming together in stillness and listening to one another. When thinking about the central character, my inclination was for them to be the embodiment of purity of thought and heart. For this reason, the figure is that of a child.

Ana Silva’s work is personal, deep, and delicate, combining various materials to explore notions of legacy, more specifically the passing of knowledge from one generation of women to the next.

Her practice is anchored in personal experience; the Angolan civil war forced her to keenly examine her surroundings and tap into her extraordinary creativity.

Her work has been featured in exhibitions including The Power of my Hands, part of Africa2020, held at the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art, and Filam(a)nt at the Fondation Blachère, among others.

ANA SILVA

(b. 1969, Angola)

UBUNTU is a sense of union and care for one another. Applying this to our lives changes the way we see the world.

Through the lens of UBUNTU, we no longer see each other as rivals or obstacles, but as brothers and sisters.

FRÁGIL 02, 2013

Frágil 02 depicts a mix of textiles, like lace and cotton, revealing the face of a woman. She appears surrounded by wings, suggesting her protection skills like the guardian angels. Within her, a child can be noticed in the center left of the piece. He is covering his face with his hands suggesting a moment of fragility. Here the woman could be considered the mother caring for a child in tears demonstrating the mother-child relationship, a current theme in Silva’s work. The many pieces of fabric add layers to the story, demonstrating the complexity of this bond. Behind the angel’s face, the artist used a tablecloth-like printed fabric, which associates with the home environment.

FABRIC, ACRYLIC BOARD, CHINESE PAINT, WALLPAPER 119 X 89 CM AFRICANA ART FOUNDATION COLLECTION

HELEN TEEDE

(b.1988, Zimbabwe)

The work of Helen Teede is very much a reflection on storytelling, using painting as a medium. She relies on situated knowledge and material thinking, rejecting notions of total, objective knowledge while embracing the importance of process, curiosity, failure, and paradox.

In 2013, she completed her BFA at the University of Cape Town. She joined First Floor Gallery Harare in 2015, and has since participated in numerous exhibitions, including a survey of contemporary Zimbabwean painting at Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in 2018.

She lives and works in Harare, returning home after completing her MA in Visual Art at the Università IUAV di Venezia, Italy.

UBUNTU means weaving together diverse worlds with partial connections, accepting the risk of persistent contingency and collective thinking, abandoning individualism, and actively deciding to make kin with one another as well as with nonhuman beings. It means being here, not everywhere, being attached to some things, not everything.

The need for each of us to feel whole in regards to our beliefs and our ways of engaging with the world underscores Teede’s recent canvases in which landscapes become embodied; bodies merge with their environment in optimistic futurism, and reanimate ancient beliefs. This new painting echoes Artemisia, Teede’s solo exhibition project in Harare from the beginning of 2021. Like the exhibition, the painting expresses compassion, humanity, and hope for the world emerging from the constraints of global lockdown.

The only possible way is if we persistently engage each other in doing, telling the kind of stories that involve situated practices, staying connected to our senses, and to our being-in-the world.

OCEAN HAVE NO COUNTRY, 2021 FABRIC DYE, ACRYLIC RESIN AND OIL ON CANVAS 175 X 300 CM

YADICHINMA UKOHA-KALU

(b.1995, Nigeria)

Yadichinma Ukoha-Kalu is a self-taught experimental artist based in Lagos. Her practice centers on explorations of line, form, and boundary, which she expresses through a variety of media including painting, drawing, sculpture, and film. She often creates environments across dimensions, bringing together abstract elements, textures, and material that interact with each other. She often exposes the skeletal process of creating, allowing the audience to witness and explore with her.

In 2020, her work Saffron in the Desert, which examines loss in relation to stability within personal and environmental experiences, was exhibited at Ko Artspace in Lagos. In 2018 she was commissioned by the African Artists Development Fund to create GrowBox, which was later shown at Zeitz MOCAA.

At its core, UBUNTU calls us to tear down the borders existing between us, and to recognize similarities without despairing about differences, accepting and approaching them with an openness of heart and mind. It teaches us that in order to live, we must remain open in whatever situation we might find ourselves in.

With this work, I return to mark-making as the fundamental process for language and expression. I will be superimposing the scripts by first engraving them on plexiglass. The plexi will then be bound to a mirror. The resulting piece is a metaphor for how language can provide a portal into cultures, places, and people, while reflecting back who we are. The script conveys no specific meaning, in fact, and in that way is not limited to the bias of culture or race. Ásùsù expressed in this form represents an open invitation, allowing witnesses to recognize something we all can relate to: our intrinsic need to express and to project ourselves as a means of connecting with one another.

PORTAL MONOLITH, 2021

PERMANENT MARKER, MIRROR, STAND, FRAME, PLEXI GLASS 152.4 X 91.4 CM

We must not do so because we are careless, but because to truly feel we must ignore unnecessary, impulsive defenses. UBUNTU means remaining open in the face of strangeness, otherness, and the obscure. “

UBUNTU

YOU KNOW THEM WHEN YOU STAY WITH THEM, ANITA KAVOCHY, 2021

RAY OF HOPE, ANITA KAVOCHY, 2020

CREDITS

World Trade Organization

NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA Director General

WERNER ZDOUC

Director of WTO Knowledge and Information Management,Academic

Outreach and WTO Chairs Programme

DANIO CAMPANELLI

WTO Ministerial Conferences Coordinator

NINEZ PIEZAS-JERBI Chief, Knowledge Management Section

CHRISTINE BOYER

Head of Unit, Administrative & Events Logistics Service

WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION TEAM

AFRICANA Art Foundation

ALEXANDRE COSTA LOPES

Founder & President

LOUISE STEFANII

Founder-Director & Curator

ANDREIA LUKENY SILVA

Board Member

CARLOS SILVA

Board Member

ALEXANDRA HERBEZ

Board Member

BIANCA DANTAS Curatorial Assistant

Editor

CHRISTOPHER IMPIGLIA

Design

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