AspartofChinAfrica鈥檚coverstoriesonculturalexchangesbetweenChinaandAfrica,weaskedfiveAfricanpainterswhohavevisitedChinatosharewithustheirthoughtsonwhattheyhavegainedfromtakingpartinSino-Africanartisticexchanges.
PatrickAdoyoMilenyeKenya
IvisitedChinaontheinvitationoftheChineseGovernmentforaoneand-a-half-monthartresidencyatChengduCultureandArtSchoolinSeptemberandOctober2016,inSichuanProvince.DuringmystayinChina,IhadthechancetovisitmanyhistoricalsitesaroundChengduCity.WevisitedseveralartvillageswhereweinteractedwithChineseartists,withwhomweproducedartworks.Wewerealsotakentoseveralmuseumsandartgalleries,fromwherewelearnedalotaboutChineseancientandmodernart.WealsohadachancetomeetsomeofthegreatestmodernChineseartists.
AfterthisChineseexperience,IcamebacktoKenyaandsetaboutpaintingusingtheknowledgeandinspirationthatIhadbroughtbackfromChina.ThesepaintingswerelaterexhibitedintheArtVillageGalleryIestablishedwithmyfriend.ThegalleryisadirectinfluencefromtheChineseArtVillagewevisitedinChengdu.
Overall,IlearnedagreatdealwhileinChengdubecauseweweregiventherightenvironmenttoproduceartworks.Thiswasmyfirstartresidency,andIbelieveithelpedmegrowalotasanartist.Iamnowabletopaintmodernart,andIfinditeasiertorelatetootherartistsaroundtheworld.IwouldnothesitatetoattendanotherresidencyinChina.Itismyhopethatsuchcooperationwillcontinuetobenefitmoreartists.
JahniWasserfallSouthAfrica
VisitingChina,andmorespecificallyZhejiangProvinceintheeastpartofthecountry,aspartoftheexchangeprogramsforAfricanandChineseartistsin2014,hasbeenbothanhonorandprivilege.Thisopportunityinspiredandenrichedmeonsomanylevels-notonlyasanartist.Itreconfirmedtomethatarthaslife-changingpowersthatcancrossculturesandboundaries,touchingboththeheartandsoulandstimulatingthemind.
Notbeingabletoreadorunderstandthelanguagecanmakeonefeelalittlelost.SoIlookedattheimportanceofwordsandhowtheybecomemerely鈥渧isuallyappealingimagery鈥漣fnotunderstoodcorrectly.ThisgotmetodecideonafewwordstoberepeatedinallmyartworksinawaythatcouldremindpeopleoftraditionalChineseart.Thisalsoloadstheworkwithdeepermeaningandintent.Thewordsthatcameup-bothasrepresentativeofmyownpersonalexperienceofChina,andmygoodwishesforthecountry-werehope,love,light,peaceandtranquility.
IamgoingbacktoSouthAfricawithabetterunderstandingandempathyfortheChinesenationanditshopesandaspirations.Chinaisgrowingatafastpaceandisembracingandencouragingartineverydaylife!
ThesceneoftheWestLakeinHangzhou,ZhejiangProvincepaintedbyNoahEzerKapitapita
SallahBarnab茅EdemFollyTogo
Thereisasayinginmyhomecountrythatonlythechildwhohasnevertraveledthinkshismothermakesthebestsauce.Infact,atfirst,IhadaverydifferentvisionofChina.ButtodayIamamazedatthereality,ontheonehandbytheeffortsmadebythecountry,ontheotherhandbythetouristicsiteswhichhavebeensowellpreservedforgenerations,inadditiontotheancientandartisticmuseums.Iwasamazed!Thewelcomethatwasgiventousinthevillagesaselsewhere,thephotoswetookhereandthere.Ihavenowordstoadequatelyexpressmyfeelingsofjoy.
Allinall,itwasanunforgettablepleasureformetogettoknowChina,andinparticularitscultureandsomeofitstouristicsites.IamhonoredtohavehadtheopportunitytovisitdifferentcitiesinChinaandlearnabouttheirhistory,andIhopetohavetheopportunitytocomebacktoChinasoon.IwishtothankZhejiangProvincialCulturalCenterandtheChineseGovernmentforgivingmethisopportunitytoexchangeandcreatewithmyChinesepeers.
MarcellinMinkoe-MinzeGabon
AttheinvitationoftheChineseGovernmentandtheZhejiangProvincialCulturalCenter,IwasgiventhechancetovisitChinainOctober2014.ThistripenabledmeandotherAfricanartiststodiscoverandshareculturalandartisticvaluesandelementswhicharesadlyunknowninGabon.
Duringmyvisit,ImetwonderfulandtalentedartistswhoknewhowtokeeptrackoftimethroughtheirworksinChineseinkpainting,whilealwaysexpressingtheircreativegenius.Weorganizedajointexhibitionofourcreations,provingbeyondashadowofadoubtthatartistheonlylanguagethroughwhichdifferentpeoplescancommunicatewithshapes,colorsandgestures,andfindcommonsensitivity,whatevertheirculturesandtheremotenessoftheircontinents.
China,throughthisgreatinitiative,hasopenedthedoorof鈥済ivingandreceiving鈥漷otheAfricancontinent.Myeyessawsomanythingsandmybrainwasinspiredbyallthosewondersthateventimecouldnoterase,especiallytheoldtreesintheparks,thethousand-year-oldsitesandmonuments,thetreerootssculptedbytime,thisdiverseandrichcuisineand,firstandforemost,thesemenandwomensmilingandseeminglysilent,butverycuriousandtalkativeatthebottomoftheirhearts.
NoahEzerKapitapitaMalawi
Thisartresidencyin2014wasmysecondvisittoChina,asIalreadyvisitedTianjinin2002.Butthisprojecthasbeenwonderful,enjoyableandverybeneficialtomyworkasanartist.Wevisitedmanydifferentplaces,which,Ibelieve,havemademycreationssimpler.TheartistsImetinChinagroomedmewithsomenewtechniqueswhichIneverknewbefore.IwillsharethisknowledgewithmyfellowartistsinMalawi.
Ihavedefinitelyenjoyedmystayhere.IwaspartofverygoodteamwithartistsfromfourotherAfricancountries.ThememoriesofChina鈥檚richculturalheritagewillstickinmymindforever.Definitely,thereisartinChinaforonetolearn.