Art Dubai: Gateway for African Artists
The 13th edition of Art Dubai put Africa in the spotlight with several exhibitions promoting artists from the continent and discussions tackling “global migration, socioeconomic structures and identity,” in honor of the Year of Tolerance initiative in the United Arab Emirates.
Part of a new section called “Bawwaba,” meaning “gateway” in Arabic, ten galleries featured African artists, including Lisbon-based Perve Galeria that showcased artworks by three artists from Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa: Reinata Sadimba and Ernesto Shikhani from Mozambique, and Manuel Figueira from Cape Verde.
The curator and manager of Perve Galeria, Nuno Espinho Silva, spoke about the paintings and artists with high regard.
“Reinata Sadimba is from the north of Mozambique, where they develop pottery for traditional use like cooking, but Reinata uses pottery to create her own pieces. You can see that they are very unique. They are characters she creates that inspire traditional stories,” Silva told the MBRSC Post.
He also mentioned that Ernesto Shikhani is “a very important artist that has been with us since 2015. He tries to create new ways of expression while maintaining contemporary African patterns.”
Numerous guests from all over the world gathered around this exhibition in admiration and in an attempt to understand what they are all about.
“I really like the style of African countries in general. They have their own distinctive styles. Once you look at it, you can tell it is African,” Samar Al Wahidin, a student at Zayed University in Dubai told the MBRSC Post.
Perve Galeria continues to showcase the work of contemporary African artists around the world, with New York being the next stop for the Contemporary African Art Fair, on May 3-4.
