Contemporary artists exploring notions of race and representativity through bold acts of self-ideation, creative dissent, decoloniality, and art-making as radical self-love!

Madlozi Art Gallery presents this exciting and landmark exhibition honouring Black artists, their work and their commitment to consciously addressing issues of representation and visibility in contemporary art and visual culture. The show honours artists’ pursuit to address the absence of Black voices, bodies and perspectives and restore them to a place of centrality.

During a year when the world witnessed once more the power of mass action and protest against racial, economic and social injustice, visual artists stepped in to consciously respond to and support social movements globally. They thus showed their value and importance in spearheading change, and articulating the value of Black bodies and Black lives.

What does it mean to be ‘Black’ and who gets to decide, approve or affirm us in our racial identities as people of colour if we do not do so ourselves?

STILL REAL BLACK FOR ME is an exhibition honouring artists of colour and their resilience and ongoing activism toward securing these same principles in the art world, a context that is a microcosm of the greater society we live in and plagued by similar issues of representation, visibility and equality on the African continent and worldwide.

The collection of artworks provides critical insight into expressions of cultural and racial identity from artists on the African continent, the Caribbean and the United States.

In a context in which space is still very political and access is restricted or controlled, we’ve set in motion a process to create and hold space to honour Black voices and expression. In doing so we hope to enable future conversations internationally that celebrate artists of colour, our work, diverse cultural identities, value and freedom to represent our realities, in our own image.

Black Artists & Art Matters

The exhibition as an intervention honours the critical work and space-making initiatives set in place by other creative collectives, activists, community organisations, Black artist-run spaces, and independent organisations working in the sector to create access, visibility and support for Black artists and art.

STILL REAL BLACK FOR ME is a pan-African conversation featuring the distinct work, ideas and critical interventions of leading international artists throughout the Black and African diaspora. This exciting inter-generational conversation among artists is a subjective exploration of issues around, representation, identity, belonging, social and economic justice, decolonial discourse in contemporary visual art practices affirming Black lives and narratives.

Black this, Black that, Black Everything Strong & Beautiful!

As the world watches events in the USA unfold with trepidation and anticipation to assess the growth or demise of democracy in the so-called free-world we present a caveat exploring some of the most critical issues confronting former colonial powers worldwide and the demand for their legacies to end. Curated by Beathur Mgoza Baker, STILL REAL BLACK FOR ME is a current and topical conversation through contemporary art and the second in the gallery’s commitment to Black narratives and spaces freely exploring race, identity and belonging beyond the confines of the traditional white cube. The exhibition presented by Madlozi Art follows on from the successful initial exhibition in this series, BE REAL BLACK FOR ME.

With Jason Wallace, Williams Chechet, Washington Kirika Njoroge, David Chinyama, Nu Barreto, Mzwandile Buthelezi, Prince Timi Kakandar and Andrae Green.

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