Spirituality and contemporary African art
African art visits the spirit hinterland for inspiration
Whereas contemporary artists in Europe and America have used giant steel spiders, captured sharks and little statues of Hitler kneeling in prayer to make a point about the modern world, African artists draw hugely on the spirit world for inspiration. In “Making Art in Africa 1960-2010” (published by Lund Humphries) Polly Savage, a British curator, interviews Qes Adamu Tesfaw on Ethiopia’s Orthodox tradition, Tapfuma Gutsa of Zimbabwe on biblical tales about Lazarus and the Book of Genesis, and the Uganda-born master painter, Jak Katarikawe, who dreams of cows with a direct line to God (pictured).
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline "Spirituality and contemporary African art"
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