09/03/17
When the Heavens Meet the Earth
Heong Gallery, Downing College, Cambridge
25 February – 21 May 2017
When the
Heavens Meet the Earth – the fourth exhibition at the Heong Gallery at Downing
College, Cambridge is showcasing a small
selection
from Robert Devereux’s African art, or Sina Jina, collection.
In 2010,
the multimillionaire, formerly a partner in the Virgin empire and Richard
Branson’s brother-in-law, sold off two-thirds of his collection of postwar
British art and used the £4 million proceeds to set up a charity supporting
artists in Africa. The African Arts Trust, as it was named, supports grassroots
organisations, which, in turn, support African artists with basic needs such as
studios and residencies.
The
exhibition specifically seeks to include some lesser-known artists, but there
are some established names as well, including El Anatsui, 2013 Turner Prize
nominee Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Ibrahim Mahama, who showed in Venice in 2015
and currently has an exhibition at White Cube Bermondsey, London. Another well-known name is the South African
photographer Zanele Muholi, whose work with the LGBTQ community places her at continual
risk in a censorious and critical society.
Ranging across photography, painting, sculpture and film, the exhibition
evidences the wealth of artistic creativity and output from the second largest
continent in the world.
Studio International spoke to Devereux at the opening of the exhibition.
Watch this film here