Giggs Kgole, “Boshielo” (2020)
Signature African Art, a gallery that concerns African art and history, will set to run Say My Name exhibitions in London from October 27-November 28, 2020, and in Los Angeles in February 2021. The exhibition is curated by Khalil Akar, managing director of Signature African Art, and in collaboration with the award-winning filmmaker, Ava DuVernay. forty percent of the proceeds of the exhibition sales will be donated to DuVernay’s Law Enforcement Accountability Project (LEAP), “a fund that commissions Black artists and activists to tell stories of police abuse through different art forms”. These two exhibitions are dedicated to the significant figures and moments of Black history in the UK and the US.
Say My Name exhibition in London will show new works of 13 Africa-based artists: Adjaratou Ouedraogo, Ejiro Owigho, Anthony Nsofor, Giggs Kgole, Ayanfe Olarinde, Moufouli Bello, Dandelion Eghosa, Oluwole Omofemi, Demola Ogunajo, Samson Akinnire, Dennis Osakue, Taiye Erewele, and Djakou Nathalie.
Quoted from artnet.com, Oluwole Omofemi, a Nigerian Artist, will present a series of nine paintings that symbolizes the last nine minutes of George Floyd being kneeled by a police officer in his neck.
Oluwole Omofemi, “Self Love” (2019)
Before this exhibition, Omofemi was interested in the Civil Rights Movement of the ‘60s and ‘70s. His works depict the natural hairstyle as the counter culture movement of Black People against European style. That movement was spread by iconic figures such as Jimi Hendrix and Diana Ross.
Moufouli Bello, “Blues” (2019)
Another artist, Moufouli Bello, in the London version of the exhibition, will show a portrait of Breonna Taylor, who was killed on March 13 by a police officer executing a no-knock warrant in Louisville.
Bello is interested in identity and ethnicity issues, especially about the impact of tradition, culture, politics, and technology on our perception of the self and society.
All of these works are vital, as they challenge racism and introduce human rights issues to the public. These artworks are “critical art” that awakens the public to resist, struggle, and make a dialogue.