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Germany and Zimbabwe team up in the name of art
University of Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies collaborated with Goethe Zentrum Harare and the National Gallery of Zimbabwe in an exhibition which ran at the Harare-based gallery from March 29 to April 28, 2018.
The exhibition titled “Future African Visions in Time” comprised photography, installations, sound scapes, projections, text and performance as well as a series of publications, activations including guided tours and thematic talks.
According to Raphael Chikukwa, from the National Gallery of Zimbabwe, the exhibition “brings future visions through the voices of these artists who are taking part in this show.”
“As the National Gallery of Zimbabwe we value this collaboration with University of Bayreuth and we need more such collaborations. Having the visiting curators from Germany adds value to what we do. As an institution we never walk alone, hence we value collaborations with other curators and institutions.”
The exhibition explored various areas of research and debate generated by the Bayreuth University Academy of Advanced African Studies since its inception in 2013. It was held with support from Germany’s Ministry of Education and Research.
Contributions included international artists such as German activist and literary and cultural studies scholar Peggy Piesche as well as local artists including Shalom Kufakwatenzi, Oscar Lwalwe, Tumi Magorosi and Georgina Maxim.
Also exhibitions and installations by other artists from outside Zimbabwe took part, including Katharina Fink, Susanne Gerhard, Constantin Katsakioris, Luis Carlos and Nadine Siegert .
The showcase was borne out of collaborations between invited international artists and resident researchers at Bayreuth Academy which generated positions questioning the results and processes of academic research by aesthetically complicating them.
An innovative research structure, the academy forms part of Bayreuth University. Since its inception the academy has played host to various artists and cultural producers at symposiums generating insights on topics such as “temporal orders,” “hope,” “utopia” and “dystopia.”
The exhibition, which followed earlier editions in Nairobi, Johannesburg, Salvador Bahia and Windhoek, will further travel the African continent, resonating with the local art world at each venue.
© GIC