Today, modern culture depends on technology for connectivity, movement, and transportation, all of which are essential features of human survival This current technological age is also enabling artists to tell stories in ways like never before and to present their works in new contexts and mediums
AFROFUTOURISM is a traveling and ongoing creative initiative consisting of experiential and storytelling exhibitions and events on African artists and artists of African descent exploring a reimagined African future through a personal or societal perspective while utilizing digital technology in their processes or presentations.
Its aim is to be a creative and cultural initiative promoting, enriching and advancing the creative spaces through innovative, forwardthinking and unconventional artistic experiences; to reinforce the power of culture and creativity as a catalyst for social change in and out of Africa
FOREVER FEMALE FORWARD is the second edition of this ongoing series of AFROFUTOURISM This exhibition includes two female African Artists, Linda Dounia Rebeiz and Somi Nwandu, that utilize technology in their process and connect to the rest of the world with their cultural and personal interpretations. This exhibition highlights how technology has enabled storytelling by these female artists, of their past, present and the visions they reimagine for the future
FOREVER FEMALE FORWARD also aims to bring a stronger focus to the lack of female digital artist representation within the African arts setting and continuously celebrate historical contributions by female artists to the art and creative industries during Women’s History Month
FOREVER FEMALE FORWARD is taking place at Art Dubai 2023
The effective scope of African futurism has been considered across time and space and enhances the spectrum of what Africa pushes to be. The rise in the appreciation and awareness of African contemporary and digital art is sweeping across all corners of the world, and as it continuously advances, it shows no signs of slowing down.
- Somi Nwandu, Founder
Linda is an artist, designer, and curator whose transdisciplinary practice explores the relationship between the immaterial and the material She is interested in how technology reinforces systems of inequity, investigates the philosophical implications of technocapitalism, and dreams of solarpunk, degrowth, and decolonized futures She works with and often combines a variety of mediums – acrylic, ink, pastels, vector, video, and generative modelling. Her work has been exhibited at Art X Lagos, KIKK Festival, Partcours, Art Basel Miami, The Dakar Biennale, Artsy, Digital Art Fair Asia, and Art Dubai.
Linda is the founder of CyberBaat – a collective of African artists determined to correct how art from Africa is perceived and valued in the digital art space. She was also an inaugural resident of the VerticalCrypto Art Residency Program. She is from Senegal, where she currently lives.
These works draw from the weaving patterns of rabaal fabric, typically used in Senegal for weddings and baptism The fabric covers a bride as she leaves her parents’ home to join her husband or to cover a mother and her newborn. It's a dense fabric, often colourful but sometimes monochrome, woven by artisans whose craft dates back generations Beneath the soothingly repetitive patterns of rabaal, there is elegant mathematics at play.
@sandwyrmdance
Ndiaga Rhythm Linda Dounia Rebeiz 2021 Video Painting, Generative Modelling
Basang Maam Linda Dounia Rebeiz 2023 Video Painting, Generative Modelling
Somi Nwandu is a self taught, transidisciplinary artist, art curator, fashion and cultural enthusiast. She explores, through digital and new media, the beauty of culture, identity and the mind in all its divine infinitude She has exhibited her art around the world including Xposure Photography Festival, Sharjah, UAE, The Other Art Fair Los Angeles, Lagos Biennial, Lagos Photo Festival, New York Art Show and more Somi has had the opportunity to plan, develop and showcase major art and cultural initiatives in globally recognized institutions like the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of African Art in Washington, D.C. Somi is the founder of AFROFUTOURISM and has curated physical art exhibitions of an array of international new media artists as well as art experiences in the virtual and digital world including the first all-female digital art exhibition in Lagos, Nigeria Somi is a quintessential, creative soul with a deep desire to forge cross-cultural ties specifically through the Arts. She believes in the union of art and technology to uplift, unify and inspire a people
ULI
This is a conversation between the future and the past; A dialogue between, the physical, spiritual and abstract A passageway of woman forces through tradition In honor of those who go before me, who sit above me and stand amongst me in strength and in unity
It is said that Ala, the Goddess of the Earth, blessed women with the ability to make art and create beauty Uli has a dynamism and beauty with deep connections to womanhood, spirit, community and nature. ‘Uli reflects the unsung contribution of women to the social development in Igbo land, its unique contribution is a spontaneous process of exploration, experimentation,’ and rhythm Uli can be interpreted as decorative curvilinear, abstract designs drawn by the women of Igboland, the southeastern region of Nigeria, to beautify the body and walls as a means of celebration, graphic communication and social tradition
ULI HOMAGE: The Divine Symbolism of Igbo Women is a honoring continuum. The the past, present and future are in unison; and history is an endless cycle revolving around these three realities of human existence This ongoing series of work is the inception of the depths of exploration of one ’ s identity and beauty through community, culture and creativity
Art Dubai is the Middle East’s leading international art fair, taking place every March in Dubai, UAE. Over the past 16 years, Art Dubai has cemented its role in being a major catalyst in the local, regional and international conversations on art from the Middle East and surrounding region (MENASA – Middle East, North Africa & South Asia), and putting art from these territories onto the global map.
As one of the world’s most international art fairs, Art Dubai has further expanded its commitment to cultivating a culture of discovery, offering exciting new global perspectives and broadening conversations about art beyond traditional western-led geographical scopes and narratives. The fair drives meaningful engagement with the rich cultural heritage and contemporary art practices of the region and extending to territories across Southeast and Central Asia, the African continent, and Latin America through presentations across its gallery sections.
