Art, Culture, Culture & Travel, News, Travel / 04 Jun 2021

Belgian Experts Frustrated At ‘Lack of Initiative from Museums and Government’ Call For Restitution of Colonial-Era Acquisitions

An independent panel of scholars and experts has called on Belgian museums to restitute artefacts acquired in a colonial context and urged the government to create a neutral commission to evaluate restitution requests, an independent institute for provenance research, and a new law to facilitate returns. Their proposals are similar to guidelines put forward in Germany and the Netherlands. But there is one big difference—in those countries, the guidelines were commissioned and adopted by the authorities. In Belgium, no official proposals on decolonising museums and restituting objects looted in the colonial era have so far been presented. The report published on 2 June was “born out of a frustration at the lack of initiative on the part of the museums and government,” says Sarah Van Beurden, an associate professor of history and African studies at the Ohio State University and one of the authors. “We wanted to say—’look, this is legitimate, it’s important.’ It is not an attempt to monopolise the discussion, but hopefully, it will help to contribute to debate among a broader cast of actors.” Belgium controlled an immense territory in central Africa—around 80 times the size of the country—until 1960. Explorers, missionaries, soldiers, representatives of King Leopold II, explorers and merchants brought home items they had stolen, bought, or otherwise acquired. The biggest repository of objects acquired in a colonial context is the Royal Museum of Central Africa at Tervuren. “By definition objects that belong to colonial collections were gathered in a context of deep structural inequality,” the authors say in their report. “In order to work towards decolonisation, heritage institutions must be willing to relinquish the gains they made owing to these unequal relationships.” The Tervuren museum acknowledges in a statement on its website that “it is not normal for such a large part of African…

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Art, News, Travel / 16 Apr 2021

The Obama Portraits Tour

From June 2021 to May 2022, The Obama Portraits Tour, organised by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, will travel to five cities across the U.S. to reach millions of people who might not otherwise have an opportunity to view these remarkable paintings. In addition to the artworks themselves, The tour will feature audio-visual elements, educational workshops and curatorial presentations. A richly illustrated book titled The Obama Portraits (2020), co-published by the National Portrait Gallery and Princeton University Press. Select merchandise will also be available. This special presentation will include conversations surrounding the power of portraiture and its potential to engage communities. From the moment of their unveiling at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in February 2018, the museum’s official portraits of President Barack Obama by Kehinde Wiley and Mrs Michelle Obama by Amy Sherald have become iconic. The tour locations include The Art Institute of Chicago (18 June to 15 August 2021); Brooklyn Museum, New York (27 August to 24 October 2021); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (5 November 2021 to 2 January 2022); High Museum of Art, Atlanta (14 January to 13 March 2022); The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (27 March to May 30, 2022). The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery recognises the lead donors to the Obama portraits: Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg; Judith Kern and Kent Whealy; Tommie L. Pegues and Donald A. Capoccia; Clarence, DeLoise and Brenda Gaines; The Stoneridge Fund of Amy and Marc Meadows; Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker; Catherine and Michael Podell. Support for the national tour has been generously provided by Bank of America. https://npg.si.edu/obamaportaitstour Read The Dirty South: Contemporary Art, Material Culture, and the Sonic Impulse

Art, Culture & Travel, Dance & Theatre, Lifestyle, News, Travel / 01 Mar 2021

Lagos Theatre Festival 2021: ‘Reckless Art’

The 2021 edition of the annual Lagos Theatre Festival (LTF) will run from 18 March to 21 March on digital streaming platforms such as Stage Play TV and Wealth Nation TV. Themed ‘Reckless Art’, the four-day event marks the 8th anniversary of the Festival, as well as a first for holding virtually. ‘Reckless Art’ will feature 7 production companies including Kininso Concepts, Just Theatre House, and Mystro Theatre. In addition, there will be workshops, online parties, master classes, Instagram live sessions, and panel discussions. Lagos Theatre Festival was conceived and launched in 2013 by the British Council, with the purpose of providing a platform for theatre makers in Nigeria to produce theatre works for unconventional spaces and develop audiences for theatre productions. The management of the Festival recently transitioned into the care of a registered trust, a Not-for-Profit organisation – LTF Foundation LTD/GTE managed by a board of directors – Olasupo Shasore SAN (Chairman), Bikiya Graham-Douglas, Ajoke Silva, Bolanle Austen-Peters, David Evans, Bolanle Austen-Peters and Tosin Oshinowo. During a virtual media briefing, Graham-Douglas expressed an eagerness on behalf of the team and assured that scrupulous arrangements have been effected to ensure the success of the event. “It’s not been easy. We’ve had a rough couple of months to ensure the success of the festival.” Read Seun Oduwole: Architecture as Experiential Public Art