Film Africa 2011 @ London locations

A Screaming Man - Mahamat Saleh Haroun

Carrying on where the London African Film Festival left off in 2009, Film Africa 2011 is a new ten-day festival of feature films, documentaries and shorts from across the continent, showing at venues around London this November. Highlights include A Screaming Man (pictured above), which I was lucky enough to see during its extended run at the BFI; another chance to catch Benda Bilili, the documentary about the Congolese rock band; and Shirley Adams, an award-winning South African film about a mother’s courage as she takes care of her recently disabled son. Alongside the films, the festival also includes talks, Q&A sessions, live music and much more.

For the full programme and further details, check out the website here.

3-13 November
various venues

South African sales @ Bonhams

The Donkey Cart - Gerard Sekoto

It’s time for another of Bonhams’ South African sales, split between the Knightsbridge and New Bond Street venues and including lots of the big names: Kentridge, Pierneef, Stern, Preller, Sekoto (pictured) and more. More details here.

Some of the works from the Ifa Lethu exhibition I posted about a while ago will also be making their way over to Bonhams for the occasion – more details here.

 

The South African Sale: Part I (Knightsbridge)

Viewings:
23 Oct 2011 11:00-15:00
24 Oct 2011 09:00-16:30

Sale:
25 Oct 2011 at 11:00

 

The South African Sale: Part II (inc. Masterpieces) (New Bond Street)

Viewings:
23 Oct 2011 11:00-15:00
24 Oct 2011 09:00-16:30
25 Oct 2011 09:00-16:30
26 Oct 2011 09:00-12:00

Sale
26 Oct 2011 at 14:00

Masterpieces sale:
26 Oct 2011 at 18:00

Berber weaving @ Brunei Gallery

Kharita Carpet Tapestry Weaving

Hidden away in the labyrinth of the University of London’s Russell Square campus is SOAS’s gallery space, the Brunei Gallery. It’s primarily a university gallery, but don’t let that put you off – while the exhibitions are geared towards student learning, they are also open to the public, and are often well put together and thought-provoking. This autumn sees a new exhibition of historical and contemporary textiles from Morocco, Weaving the Threads of Livelihood:  the aesthetic and embodied knowledge of Berber weavers. The website promises hands-on opportunities to touch many of the textiles, handle the tools used to make them, and even have a go at weaving yourself.

Show:
14th Oct – 10th Dec

Opening hours:
Tues-Sat, 10.30-5

Brunei Gallery
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London
WC1H 0XG

Lawson Oyekan @ One Canada Square

Autonomous Resonator Twin, 1999 - 2002 - Lawson Oyekan

Wandering through Canary Wharf last weekend, I stumbled upon an exhibition of sculptures by London-born, Nigeria-raised, London-educated artist Lawson Oyekan. Entitled Global Working, the show features sculptures made over the course of the last twelve years, including some from the Autonomous Resonator Series (another part of which is pictured above). These anthill-like sculptures lurk rather incongruously in the shiny lobby of One Canada Square like earthy daleks, offering a welcome diversion from their corporate surroundings. Find out more about the artist here.

The show continues until 11th November.

Opening hours:
Mon-Fri, 5.30am – midnight
Sat-Sun, 7am – 11.30pm
(yes, really… this is Canary Wharf, after all)

Lobby, One Canada Square
Canary Wharf, London
E14 5AB

HELP NEEDED! @ Photographers’ gallery

Stop Press! Were you (or anybody you know) born in any of the following African countries?

Benin
Central African Republic
Djibouti
Equatorial Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Madagascar
Malawi
Niger
Sao Tome and Principe
Swaziland

If so, and you fancy having your portrait taken as part of a photography project called The World in London, get in touch with the Photographers’ Gallery. The project aims to include portraits of Londoners born in each of the 204 nations competing in London’s 2012 Olympic Games, and will be presented at an outdoor exhibition to coincide with next year’s festivities. A bit gimmicky, perhaps, but they’ve enlisted the help of over 200 UK and international photographers and, with a potential 204 fellow sitters, it should be a fun project to be involved with.

You can find a full list of the 38 nations still on the wanted list on the website. (Nauru has a population of just under 10,000! I really hope they find someone…)

To make yourself known to the Photographers’ Gallery and get involved, email them: portrait.commission@photonet.org.uk

Coming Home @ Menier Gallery

For the Children - Dumile Feni

For just four days the week after next, there’s a rare chance to see art from South Africa’s apartheid era in the show Coming Home: South African Art Repatriated by the Ifa Lethu Foundation. Art made by black artists, and artists who objected to the apartheid regime, was excluded from establishment art collecting at the time; as a result much of it found its way into collections overseas, and is only now being returned to South Africa through the efforts of organisations like Ifa Lethu. This show at the Menier Gallery is part of a world tour aiming to share this artistic heritage with a wider audience. 44 works will be on display from artists including Dumile Feni (pictured), Motshile wa Nthodi, David Mothabeng Phoshoko, Melissa Becker and Victor Gordon.

More info about the show here, and about the Ifa Lethu Foundation here.

Show:
18th-21st Oct

Opening hours:
Tue-Wed, 11–6
Thurs-Fri, 11–8

Menier Gallery
51 Southwark Street,London
SE1 1RU

Small is Beautiful @ Jeans Pop-Up Space

This Friday there’s one more chance to visit the Small is Beautiful art fair, previously at arc gallery and now relocated for the evening to a pop-up space in Willesden Green. Small works from artists including renowned Nigerian artist Ndidi Dike will be on sale, and prices start at £40. More info here.

7th October
6.30pm-10.30pm

Jeans Pop-Up Space
71B Kings Road, Willesden Green, London
NW10 2BN

Yinka Shonibare MBE @ Iniva Significant Voices

Yinka Shonibare MBE

As Yinka Shonibare MBE ‘s Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle approaches the end of its voyage on Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth, the artist makes an appearance as part of Iniva’s Significant Voices series. Shonibare is famous for his historically-inspired sculptures, which use African textiles to foreground issues of identity, connectedness and globalisation, all tied together with a critical take on empire. Here, he’ll be talking about his work and postcolonial Britain’s cultural legacy with writer, broadcaster and cultural commentator Ekow Eshun. Tickets and further details here – booking advised.

19th October

6.30-8.30

£7 (£5 concessions) + booking fee

The Human Rights Action Centre
17-25 New Inn Yard, London
EC2A 3EA