Black beauty, pride and excellence: A Tale of Reappropriation is all about representations of black culture and community. The product of a true collaboration between the Black in Business club at London Business School and Pavillon 54 from conception to the desinstallation. It’s no secret that during the course of history, Africans have been dehumanised and that the project of re-humanising the life and world of African societies remains an urgent task. The exhibition took a strong focus on finding more complex ways to critically engage with Black identities.
Bâ Simba, Mémoire du Premier Ministre (2022), Acryclic and ink on canvas
Featuring the work of seven artists from the continent and the diaspora, 20 artworks across media, and, as the exhibition catalogue reads all the artists' work towards “reclaiming the narrative sharing their views on what it means to be black to them”. Black beauty, Pride and Excellence: A Tale of Reappropriation is organised around three themes: resilience, celebration and recalibration (of negative mainstream media representation).
The works in the exhibition covering this theme consider how “overcoming” and “bouncing back” from adversities — ranging from minor incidents to legally ordained, chronic and horrific oppression — has been a requirement for survival in black communities. Denisse Ariana Pérez’s photographs in Black Beauty, Pride and Excellence continue in Pérez’s wider practice of using photography and storytelling to highlight marginalised people — in this case Albinism. By shifting the narrative and portraying the young albino boys as protagonists, she hopes to shift the narrative, showing that resilience is an act of resistance and survival.
Denisse Ariana Pérez, Albinism I, 2019, Giclée print, Image courtesy of the artist.
The opening also saw the premier of Pérez’s film titled ‘A poetic lesson on Black Anatomy’. Speaking on the significance of the film the artist said, “No Black body is exactly the same, and no Black experience is exactly the same, but there is something intangible that is shared among Black bodies. It is not only history as we might think it is, but rather something magical and poetic. This project is about that intangible part. About that shared magic. That is something that is hard to put words into but that I’ve tried to give language to. This project is a love letter to Blackness, all that it is, and all that it can be."
The film ‘A poetic lesson on Black Anatomy’ by Denisse Ariana Pérez premiered at the opening of ‘Black Beauty, pride and Excellence’.
On the other end, Àsìkò’s digital collages portray female forms, richly coloured in deep blacks. Exploring the textures found in African textiles and the symbols often welded into jewellery, Àsìkò explores where African cosmologies and mythologies intertwine with black femininity.
Àsìkò, Constellations of Beauty, 2020. Image courtesy of Pavillon54 and the artist
Amado Alfadni exhibited the ‘Askari’ which formed a part of his larger Askari Project — a research-based study on the history of enslaved Sudanese soldiers, who served in the armies of European colonial powers in Africa during the 19th and 20th Centuries. Fighting in both World Wars, Askari units served outside their colonies of origin, in various parts of Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Central America. A little told story, Alfadni’s works speak to the resilience of narrative to be unearthed and continually relevant in contemporary black culture.
Amado Alfadni, Askari, 2019, photomontage digital print, 50 x 70cm. Image courtesy of Sulger-Buel Gallery.
Suraj Adekola uses his characteristic adire or tie-dye, the artist focuses on the beauty of black people and pan-Africanism. Glueing fabric to canvas and painting and drawing a simple figure with an oil stick, his works highlight the beauty of blacks. Interesting how he re-invents the historic and the traditional in both surprising and innovative ways.
Suraj Adekola, We will not forget you (2022), Bleach, spray paint, and oil bars on Adire fabric
The exhibition also touched on nature's beauty in Maliza Kiasuwa’s ‘Pride of Origins' series which was inspired by the raw beauty of her home at Lake Naivasha, a freshwater lake in Kenya. Often working in recycled material foraged on her walks, combined with materials such as Japanese Washi paper, the artist's characteristic process is putting together unlikely materials.
View of ‘Pride of Origins' series (2021) by Maliza Kiasuwa, mixed media on paper
Bâ Simba also often works in found material such as the circular table top which forms the canvas for ‘The Power of One Dollar’. Simba created the work to celebrate the feat that African Americans survived — to come from histories of enslaved people to obtain a distinct and impressive cultural identity. Celebrating the continent is Sani Sani’s ‘Daga Go Ina’ (meaning ‘everywhere’) a rich orange painting honouring horseback riders and nomads such as the Fulani, the moors and the riders of Nigeria.
Bâ Simba, Mémoire du Premier Ministre, Acryclic,ink, and collage on circular wooden table
The exhibition was well-attended despite the strikes cropping up across London on the opening evening. Opening night sales were incredibly positive with Ba Simba’s ‘Mémories du Premier Ministre’, and ‘Albinism I’ and ‘Albinism II’ by Denisse Ariana Pérez. being acquired. The occasion was made special by artist Suraj Adekola’s attendance and special mention must be given that this was Bâ Simba’s first exhibition in Europe.
Suraj Adekola attended the opening evening
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