Art Worlds: Zimbabwe

Joël Andrianomearisoa is an artist who straddles worlds working and living between Paris and Magnat-l’Étrange in France as well as Antana-narivo in Madagascar. His work, which encompasses sculpture, installation, performance, craft and textiles, is influenced by the cultural diversity that characterises Madagascar yet it speaks beyond here. A piece like ‘The Five Continents Of All Our Desires’, made from suspended sheets of black silk paper, considers the architecture of feelings and the way emotional experiences, like desire, can be considered universal. Joël has exhibited across the globe and was the artist chosen to represent Madagascar when the country first participated in the Venice Biennale in 2019. Since then he has created exhibition opportunities for Malagasy artists through the platform Hakanto Contemporary. Set in a sprawling warehouse in Antananarivo, the initiative celebrates and supports Malagasy creativity. Joël joined me from his studio in Paris and explained the ways he likes to provoke and bring people together.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 34 speaks to Margaux Huille, director of Fondation H, a Malagasy organisation dedicated to contemporary art. Margaux has spent her career championing artists from Africa and its diaspora. Having helped launch the endowment fund African Artists for Development and worked with 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, she has been deeply embedded in the continent’s various art worlds. Fondation H, launched by patron Hassanein Hiridjee in 2017, operates in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo and France’s capital, Paris. From permanent spaces in both locations, the programming foregrounds the development and structuring of the Indian Ocean art scene. This is realised through supporting artists with exhibition opportunities, workshops and prizes as well as focusing on increasing public access to art. Margaux spoke to me from Antananarivo about the scope and value of these activities. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 33 meets Xiaoyu Weng, a prolific and pioneering curator. From her early career working with Kadist to build their contemporary Asian art collection, to her time as an associate curator at the Guggenheim and then onto to leading the modern and contemporary art department at the Art Gallery of Ontario, she has developed interdisciplinary programming centred on new ways to conceive a globalised world and to consider its attendant challenges. Last year, Xiaoyu became the inaugural artistic director of the Tanoto Art Foundation. Based in Singapore and founded by Belinda Tanoto, the not for profit sees itself as a connector that will bring together Southeast Asia’s arts communities and nurture dialogues beyond. The Foundation has plans for a range of activities including exhibitions, international collaborations, research and publications. I spoke to Xiaoyu just after she had launched their first public symposium in a theatre at Singapore’s School of the Arts.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 32 features Dawn Ng, an artist preoccupied with time, memory, nostalgia and the ephemeral. This has led her to develop a unique sculpting technique that deploys ice and pigment to create beguiling images across a breadth of mediums, including photography, film and painting. When translated into moving image, like in ‘The Earth is an Hourglass’ currently showing at 11th Asia Pacific Triennial, Dawn’s icy sculptural form gradually collapses into a river of colour. The process is captivating. Dawn’s works are focused on encouraging this type of slow looking. From large-scale installations at the National Gallery Singapore to a commission for the Fondation d'entreprise Hermès, her work is characteristically poetic and elegant in its execution. Dawn joined me from her studio in Singapore and told me more about her industrial size walk-in freezers and her scientific spreadsheets.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Art Worlds returns for series 4! Joining me for episode 31 is Magnus Renfrew, the Co-Chairman and Global Director of The Art Assembly, an affiliation of three major international art fairs founded in the Asia Pacific region. This includes Singapore’s leading art fair, ART SG. Magnus launched the inaugural edition of ART SG in January 2023. He has deep expertise, he was founding director of Art Basel Hong Kong (2012-2014) - serving as one of three members of Art Basel’s global Executive Committee, and before that was founding director of the fair’s predecessor ART HK: Hong Kong International Art Fair (2007-2012). He is currently Chair of the Advisory Council for Para Site Art Space.In the run up to the fair opening its doors, Magnus spoke to me from his office in Taipei about the ins and outs of spearheading such an enterprise.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Natsagsuren Mangalam is the founder of Lkham, one of Mongolia’s leading contemporary art galleries. Opened in 2022, after she left her career in finance, the gallery supports a range of artists, both established and emerging from across Central Asia. Lkham has quickly built a reputation for its strong exhibitions and original education and events programme. Natsagsuren’s motivation is for the region’s artists to be recognised both at home and on a global stage. As such, she has brought in curators like Dr Christiana Bonin, invited guest lecturers and staged a major exhibition in Paris. Natsagsuren spoke to me from Athens in between planning her next international show.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 29 meets Baatarzorig Batjargal, an artist based in Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, who is revered for his fastidious paintings that capture the country’s shifting character and values. Drawing on the zurag style, associated with Mongolia’s independence movement in the early 20th century, his works evoke the contradictions of a nomadic society exposed to socialism now contending with rapid urbanisation and global capitalism. In scenes somewhat reminiscent of Tibetan Buddhist painting, a spectrum of figures including deities, intellectuals, warriors and cartoon characters jostle together.Baatarzorig has exhibited widely and was included in the Bangkok Art Biennale 2020 and the Asia Pacific Triennale 2018 at the Queensland Art Gallery. He joined me from his studio to discuss how and why he converges spiritualism and consumption. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 28, Art Worlds visits Mongolia. Gantuya Badamgarav, a curator based in the country's capital Ulaanbaatar, has been integral to the development of the country’s contemporary art. With a macroeconomic policy background, Gantuya established 976 Art Gallery and the Mongolian Contemporary Art Support Association in 2012. She has organized over 100 exhibitions and was the first-ever Commissioner of the Mongolia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2015. Since she has been the project director and the curator in 2022 and 2019 when she brought together traditional throat singers with the German artist Carsten Nicolai in an installation by Jantsankhorol Erdenebayar. Gantuya currently runs the Nomadic Red Corner International Artist Residency. She spoke to me from her home in Ulaanbaatar about her pioneering work.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 27 meets Raphael Chikukwa, a curator based in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, who is the Executive Director of the country’s National Gallery. He first joined the institution in 2010 as chief curator, following ten years of working independently and instigating a range of exhibitions including at the Imperial War Museum North and Manchester Art Gallery. Raphael’s commitment to enhancing the visibility of Zimbabwe’s artists saw him become the founding Curator of the Zimbabwe Pavilion at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011. He curated subsequent editions, up until 2019, when he became commissioner. During his time he focused on group shows that included Portia Zvavahera and Kudzanai-Violet Hwami. Raphael has advised organisations internationally, among them, Future Generation Art Prize and High Line Plinth in New York and written extensively about Zimbabwe’s contemporary art. He joined me from his office at the gallery to discuss his curatorial work and the grand plans he has for 2024.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episode 26 features Richard Mudariki, an artist based between Harare and Cape Town. Known for his satirical figurative paintings, Richard addresses political reform in Zimbabwe, state corruption and social conditions in South Africa. In 2020 he founded artHARARE as an online platform to experience contemporary art by established, mid-career and emerging visual artists from Zimbabwe and its diaspora. The initiative has since developed with artHARARE participating in international art fairs like 1-54, building institutional partnerships as well as hosting talks and starting an art prize. Richard spoke to me from Cape Town about his ongoing efforts to support Zimbabwe’s artists.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.