Spectators

Concept

Artistic statement

As an artist I reflect on the urban African environment I live in and how this environment fits within the wider global context. It is a complex world full of conflicts, corruption, inequalities and contradictions. It is also a great world for its resilient, cheerful and courageous people, its community and family values, its rich and diverse traditions, its vivid arts and cultures and its beautiful nature. As a black African artist, I feel very much connected to this rich heritage and proud of being part of it.
At the same time, it saddens me to observe the many issues of violence, discrimination and injustice happening in societies today. It’s not just the simple black against white racial picture, as these very issues are suffered in our own black African communities as well. Each society has its own issues due to the way we interact with one another, based on greed or fear and distrust for the otherness we do not know. We all have an individual choice though to interact differently and shape societies differently tomorrow.
My work seeks to explore the impact of human interactions in view of universal human values, emotions and the need for human dignity that connect us all underneath our differences. It reveals in a contemporary way the incredible richness of our heritage to others who may not know. It aims to encourage curiosity and openness towards diversity, to nourish renewed awareness, understanding, self-confidence and trust.