Description |
We Face Forward is a season of contemporary art and music from West Africa, celebrated across Manchester’s galleries, museums, music venues and public spaces from 2 June to 16 September as part of London 2012 Festival. It is the first major collaboration between Manchester City Galleries and Whitworth Art Gallery.
The accompanying 128 page publication includes an introductory essay by the curators Maria Balshaw, Bryony Bond, Mary Griffiths and Natasha Howes which sets the historic context of the relationship between Manchester and West Africa and discusses the main themes which run throughout the exhibition. Other essays by Christine Eyene, Lubaina Himid, Koyo Kouoh and Alan Rice explore the wider context for the exhibition including tracing the image of the thread, an engagement with British artists of African descent, a focus on independent contemporary art spaces in West Africa and an exploration of the history of African Atlantic residents in Cottonopolis. Furthermore there are texts on each of the 33 artists in the exhibition with full colour images of their work. |