The Museum of the African Diaspora Launches Its Second Exhibition

Looking Both Ways: Art of the Contemporary African Diaspora, April 6-June 4.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) March 14, 2006 -- Perhaps there is nothing more enigmatic for an African-born artist than simply arriving. Whether the destination is London, Paris, or Berlin, arrival for African artists has always resulted in a delicate dispersion of their art forms as well as the dilemma of what forms to represent. The question of faithfully retaining ideas of artistic expression from an African past as well as challenging contemporary notions of “African art” within the Diaspora is at the heart of the Museum of the African Diaspora’s upcoming exhibition, Looking Both Ways: Art of the Contemporary African Diaspora, which will launch MoAD’s 2006 season this April.

“’Looking Both Ways refers to the artists’ practice of looking at the psychic terrain between Africa and the West, a terrain of shifting physical contexts, emotional geographies, and aesthetic ambitions and expressions,” said Laurie Ann Farrell, curator of Looking Both Ways, Museum of African Art, Long Island City, New York. “It attempts to provide insight into the Diaspora from an international perspective, revealing it through the art and stories of the artists themselves.”

Looking Both Ways will present new and recent works that focus on the interplay between the artists’ African backgrounds and their new environments. The exhibition will explore questions such as “What are the shifting influences, both new and old, which currently distinguish African art when it is created outside of the continent?”

Looking Both Ways will feature artists who were born in Africa and now live and work in Western countries including France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United States of America. Looking Both Ways will provide a captivating array of styles and media, ranging from video, sculpture, installation art, and performance art to painting, photography and works on paper.

Artist represented in Looking Both Ways include Oladele A. Bamghoye, Allen deSouza, N’Dilo Mutima, Wangechi Mutu and Yinka Shonihare. Looking Both Ways was organized by the Museum for African Art in New York.

The exhibition will kick off with a lecture on April 8, 1:00-2:30 pm in the MoAD Education Center. Ms. Farrell will share some behind-the-scenes stories about the development of “Looking Both Ways.” Ms. Farrell publishes regularly on the subject of contemporary African art and has presented scholarly papers at juried conferences. Admission is free, but reservations are recommended.

For further information call 415.358-7200

Museum Hours

Museum of the African Diaspora
685 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA

Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 10:00 am-6:00 pm
Tuesday CLOSED
Thursday 10:00 am-9:00 pm
Sunday noon-5:00 pm

Admission: $ 8:00
$ 5.00 for seniors and students

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