FREE TO CHOOSE - Solo exhibition in Cape Town: An Artist Statement
We are living in exciting times. In my opinion, the future of the African continent has never looked brighter than today. We live in an era of relative peace, freedom, ease of communication and travel, better health facilities and education. Though this generation has its own unique challenges, they are in sharp contrast to the inequalities and oppression experienced during the eras of slavery, colonialism and apartheid. The ‘born free generation’ can only imagine how harsh life would have been during those times. Many artists from previous generations had their work dismissed as primitive - only to be exhibited as tribal art. It took many years of struggle, commitment and creativity for visual artists like Thomas Mukarobgwa, George Pemba and El Anatsui, among others, to be recognized by the dominant western art world as true visual artists and for their work to be considered valuable. Most of these early generation artists on the African continent ar...