Prologue

Gallery 205

Ikiré Jones The Madonna De la colección primavera/verano 2014 The Untold Renaissance, 2014 Pañuelo de bolsillo, mezcla de lana y seda 42 x 42 cm Vitra Design Museum © Walé Oyéjidé [ikirejones.com]

Nikolaj Cyon
Alkebu-Lan 1260 AH, 2011
Póster
118,9 x 84,1 cm
© Nikolaj Cyon

How do we look at Africa and at what eye level? Who looks at whom actually? The eyewear sculptures by Kenyan artist Cyrus Kabiru provide a compelling metaphor for the shift in perspective that is urgently needed today. In the Prologue, narrow views of the continent are countered with works probing stereotypes and lacks of knowledge. How many of us, for example, are aware of how large Africa actually is? Equally important, the “Prologue” raises questions of representation. Who is talking about the continent and how? For centuries, the view of Africa was defined by the accounts of European researchers and missionaries. Even contemporary information design on the topic of Africa– ostensibly not bound to anything but objective facts–often resorts to clichés and is thus shown to be a tool for exercising the prerogative of interpretation. In this way, the “Prologue” offers examples of how contemporary graphic designers are representing information about Africa in different ways, contributing to a new, clear look at the continent.

Until lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunters.

Chinua Achebe, Nigerian writer, interviewed in The Paris Review, 1994

"Until lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunters."

Prologue

Until lions have their own historians, tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunters.

#MYGUGGENHEIMBILBAO

#MYGUGGENHEIMBILBAO