A collaborative exhibition together with Äkkigalleria in Jyväskylä, Finland. Featuring work from 7 Yebo artists in our first solo show abroad!
EXHIBITION ARTWORK:
Yebo artists have a successful exhibition in Finland!
Seven Swazi artists represented by Yebo Art Gallery were invited by Äkkigalleria to exhibit in Finland. They are Celimpilo Dlamini, Sunshine Nxumalo, Fela Dlamini, Aleta Armstrong, Bhekani Dlamini, Khulekani Msweli and Dane Armstrong. The Director of Yebo!, Aleta Armstrong said in an interview “This was a fantastic opportunity for the artists who were selected by an overseas gallery to focus on creating new and exciting work. We have had numerous exhibitions at Yebo but now it is important for the artists careers for us to arrange overseas exhibitions and we are grateful to Äkkigalleria who give us this great opportunity. I’m very pleased with the feedback we have received.”
Interview with Anna Ruth, Director of Äkkigalleria in Finland
In consistence with the Äkkigalleria mandate (to promote contemporary arts as a site specific event) this 23rd exhibition featuring 7 Yebo! artists, spontaneously occupied a vacant shop for five days, in a vibrant shopping centre in downtown Jyväskylä, Finland.
The theme for this exhibition was Climate (ex)Change, and all artists produced new work specifically for this show. Each artist considered the theme in their own way, but underlying tones dealt with a cultural exchange, the differences and similarities, between Finland and Swaziland. The exhibition included oil paintings, video, sculpture, prints and photography, giving a great cross section of contemporary art practices.
Climate (ex)Change was an exotic exchange of climates, as the Swazi art physically left a bright summer to arrive in a dark, snow-covered Finland. The inherent warmth of styles, textures and colours of the work created a kind of oasis in the heart of Finnish winter.
The general response to the exhibition was extremely positive. Some visitors happened upon the exhibition by accident on their way between errands. Many Jyväskylä residents were pleasantly surprised to suddenly find an art gallery with such interesting art in their shopping centre. Several individuals were energized by the exhibition as if they had taken a miniature vacation. Visitors said the exhibition was “a breath of fresh air” and “a moment of peace” in the midst of their dreary wintery day.
Other visitors came to the shopping centre specifically to see the exhibition. Several visitors travelled 300km from the capital city Helsinki, just to see this show by Swazi artists.
This exhibition showed contemporary Swazi art for the first time in Finland, and it caught the attention of the local art professionals. To some visitors, Swaziland was a completely unknown country and others could roughly situate it on the map. But all left the exhibition with a greater understanding of Swazi contemporary art.
Several of the Jyväskylä Art Museum directors visited the exhibition on their personal time, and one piece, “Trance” by Aleta Armstrong, was bought for the museum’s collection of contemporary professional artists.
The art provided a platform for discussion on how African countries are usually perceived in the media. Visitors were grateful for the different perspectives offered by the artists. Through the familiar language of art, the visitors could simply contemplate similarities between Swaziland and Finland. Magic and storytelling are important aspects of history in both countries and the exhibition visitors marvelled at Bhekani Dlamini’s interpretation of the Finnish epic Kalevala though his work “No passport”.
The work of Fela Dlamini which featured angels on Finnish “Nokia” cell phones was one of the visitors’ favourites. Humour was also found in the work by Sunshine Nxumalo ”Cultural Celebration, whilst the ancestors, who are mainly men (as usual!) watch”. On a more serious tone, the work of Khulekani Msweli looked at the physical and spiritual imbalance in his piece “Beautiful Decay”. The historical context of the thoughtful paintings by Celimpilo Dlamini was greatly appreciated.
Dane Armstrong presented a more personal series which directly confronted his experiences in both countries, Swaziland and Finland in his work “Coming/Going Home”.
The directors of Äkkigalleria were extremely honoured to have the opportunity to show this group of Swazi artists on the rise. “The quality of contemporary art coming out of Swaziland right now is extremely high. We hope to see these artists again in Finland soon!”.