The African Artists’ Foundation
(AAF) is pleased to announce the first exhibition of the Female Artists’ Platform
- Femme Fatal: Deconstructing the Politics of Sexuality.
About
the theme Femme Fatale:
Deconstructing the Politics of Sexuality
Femme-fatale
is a term that has been used extensively as a stereotypical representation of
women in literature, cinema, and the visual arts throughout history. In its
popular incarnation, female identity is articulated through her role as an over
sexualised, seductive, and scheming predator who uses her erotic charms to
manipulate the opposite sex, literally translated from French as “deadly
woman”.
As
this figure has traditionally been viewed as the pigeon-holing of a woman’s
role predicated on her sexuality, it has been argued that such a limiting
characterization stigmatizes the freedom and equality of women in an
overly-saturated media environment. At the same time, others have argued that
through this overbearing yet archetypal depiction of female identity, the femme
fatale role has given women a sense of agency in a world that is predominately
defined by patriarchal hierarchies, playing predator rather than victim
(perhaps more so in Africa with its widening social and economic inequalities).
This exhibition takes as its starting point the controversial place of the
femme fatale figure in cultural discourse, exploring how female artists
variously interpret its predicament and negotiate both its power, limitations,
and all the grey areas in between.
The
concept opens the floor to topics including feminism and its aftermath, relationships,
promiscuity, masochism, tradition, superstition, witchcraft, misogyny,
philogyny, sexual harassment, career opportunities, advertising, media
representation, and cultural stereotypes.
As
part of an annual series of AAF’s Female Artist Development Project, which aims
to call to attention the vital yet undervalued role of female artists in the
Nigerian contemporary arts community, this exhibition will explore how female
identity is constructed, articulated, and vehemently asserted in both the
contexts of Nigerian society and a broader global paradigm. Work in all art
genres will be accepted including, but not limited to: photography, painting,
sculpture, mixed media, film, installation, textiles and graphic art. Selected
proposals will receive a budget to assist in production. The artists are also
supposed to mentor a secondary school-aged girl of their choice and work with
her to produce a work for the grand finale.
This
project is curated by Medina Dugger, head curator at AAF.
Exhibition
The
exhibition will feature 8 contemporary female artists in
such genres as: photography, mixed media, video, design and
performance. The opening will take place at 6 pm on May 9th at the Ford Foundation on Banana Island.
Exhibiting Artists:
Tyna Adebowale
Jenevieve
Aken
Karimah
Ashadu
Elisa
Bortolussi
Sésu
Tilley-Gyado
Shannon
Lawrence
ROF
(duo Carmen and Selina Sutherland)
Omoligho
Udenta
About
AAF
African Artists’
Foundation (AAF) is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion and
development of contemporary African art. African Artists’ Foundation serves a
significant role in art and academic communities through organizing
exhibitions, festivals, competitions, residencies, and workshops with the aim of
unearthing and developing talent, creating societal awareness, and providing a
platform to express creativity. By providing assistance to professional and
emerging artists in Africa and support to international exhibitions and
community outreach programs, African Artists’ Foundation views the contribution
to a strong cultural landscape in Africa as a transformative element in driving
social change.
2 comments:
Nice one. keep it up.
Nice one. keep it up.
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