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In her first solo gallery exhibition in London, acclaimed Moroccan artist, Ghizlane Sahli utilises her remarkable understanding of space and form to present a series of three-dimensional bas-reliefs, as well as drawings and sculpture, in an exhibition in which she invites us on an inner and organic journey, bound by a universal theme, and allows us to transcend what would normally exclude humans from seeing "Universatility", and its sophisticated and complex mechanism. Sahli does not claim or condemn anything, for her, 'belonging' is a fragmented prison, and identity, a notion far too complex to confine or freeze without risking alienation. To this, she consciously substitutes the exploration of what is most fundamental and common to humanity, in its primitive origin, cleansed of all the stigmas that make it a distinction or belonging, whether cultural social, religious, geographical, racial or gender.

INTERVIEW WITH THE ARTIST BEHIND 'HISTOIRE DE TRIPES', CURRENTLY AT SULGER-BUEL GALLERY, SOUTHWARK

By Camelia Sarnefors

In 2012, Ghizlane had to create a dress with recycled materials for a magazine. Among the designers featured in the article, she was the only one to use garbage. “When I was doing this dress, suddenly I realized that this is what I want to be doing, this I what I really need to do. So little by little I stopped my embroidery studio and I created a collective, the Zbel Manifesto, with two friends and my sister. Not so long after we got a proposal by the Biennale of Marrakesh to work on a flat.”

They covered the entire flat with waste and called the projected “Pimp my garbage”. The Zbel Manifest was also invited to participate in the inaugural exposition of the Mohamed VI Museum in Rabat. “That was a really big success, […] I mean we were in the New York Times, in Euro News, in China TV.”

AFRO, ENCOUNTERS WITH AFRICA

Galerie de L'Escale

Friday 15 March - Thursday 25 April 2019

In this collective exhibition, the works of artists from the African continent dress the Galerie de L'Escale, and question the viewer about identity, the transmission of know-how, the cross-fertilization of cultures and the challenges that our contemporary society faces. Reflections of a plural and multicultural society, these artists are at the same time the guardians of the traditions and the builders of an artistic future and more broadly of a humanistic vision in answer to the great doubts of this time. To observe the elsewhere and the use of the inheritance by each one, to understand the difference are the conditions for a sensible future, the Art like tool of speech, the Human behind the Art.

Participating Artists Include: Nú Barreto I Beya Gille Gacha I Nelson Makamo I Gastineau Massamba I Evans Mbugua I Hyacinthe Ouattara I Malick Sidibe I Ange Swana

BUBBLEGUM CLUB - ART & CULTURE

'What is South Africa, even? Vol 2.' // exploring history and nationhood

By Christa Dee

"One of the things I am trying to do with this project is reflect on what it means to be part of this nation, especially one that has so much growing up to do. Considering that ideas of the nation in the past have relied heavily on exclusion, and South Africa's difficulty in coming to terms with the end of colonialism and apartheid, the aim is to try and bring new light to the circumstances that influence our sense of belonging here. I also want to write our history - we know that there are many gaps and that the experiences of everyday people are not always present in historical narratives, the exhibition serves as a way to think through 'historical loss' and also serves as a way to include. The project is really about inclusion."

HI-FRUCTOSE MAGAZINE

The Multilayered Paintings of Slimen El Kamel
By Andy Smith

Slimen El Kamel’s transcendent paintings are informed by both memory and folklore. The Tunisia artist uses acrylics, embroidery, and other media to craft these multilayered works, each inviting the viewer to unpack his crowded visions. His painting have been said to question “social constraints and the absurdity of violence.”

“His more recent work considers the links between the human body and everyday consumable objects,” Sulger-Buel Gallery says. “El Kamel considers the ways in which virtual and lived reality hinge upon visual and auditory channels of communication. Through figurative, symbolic and abstract forms he creates at once a narrative unfolding on the canvas and a subtle critique of the effects of mass culture on traditional ways of life.”

THE ART NEWSPAPER - NEWS - ARTMARKET

Economic growth spurs Africa’s art market—but slowly
By Anna Brady

Fledgling local client base and rising international interest fuel Cape Town and Marrakech shows.

As a continent, Africa is arguably the last frontier art market and, as China’s economy continues to slow, it is attracting increasing attention—in October, the International Monetary Fund calculated that six of the ten fastest-growing global economies are in Africa. The rise of Modern and contemporary African artists on the market in Europe and the US, and the spike in museum shows dedicated to them, was a phenomenon in 2018. Yet the continent itself, with its reputation as a relatively high-risk business environment with a still nascent domestic collector base, remains unexplored by many international galleries.