Art from across Africa on show in Hackney

credit: "Blue Jazz" by Kofi Agorsor

Photo: "Blue Jazz", Kofi Agorsor

A new exhibition showcasing the latest in African art will open to the public in Stoke Newington this weekend.

The free exhibition, ‘The Portfolio’, at Open the Gate café, will feature the work of a range of artists from across Africa, with a selection of abstract, impressionist and realist art, including the work of Ghanaian Kweku Opoku, Kenyan Peter Ngugi, and Zimbabwean Bruce Chidovori.

Curator Kwame Akuffo, founder of AFRIKart Gallerie, an online gallery focusing on modern African art said: “Come and savour and be enchanted by the goofy and whimsical playfulness of Agorsor’s works, witness the emergence of Bruce Chidovori as an artist to be watched, and enjoy Stephen Gwotcho’s delectable portraiture.”

Open the Gate café on Stoke Newington High Street opened in June, with the aim to promote African and black culture through arts, music, cultural and social activities.  It recently hosted a photographic exhibition, ‘Black Britannia’ by Fleet Street’s first black photographer John Ferguson, to celebrate Black History Month.

Its founder, Sandrine Herbert , felt that London needed a place for people to meet who had a common interest in black culture.  Stoke Newington, whose black African and black Caribbean inhabitants make up nearly two thirds of the area’s population, was the perfect location.

“There are lots of places offering black culture and arts but there is a problem of visibility for such spaces,” Ms Herbert said. “We can offer the visibility…on this busy, central location.”

‘The Portfolio’ takes place from November 27 to December 8 at Open The Gate, 35 Stoke Newington Road. For more information see www.openthegate.org.uk

For our pick of this week’s best gigs, exhibitions, club nights and events along the East London Line, check out our “Pick of the Line” here.

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