From the Border of the City to the Shore of the Island: The Angolan Artist António Ole
Angola, a blank spot on the map of the international art world due to its long-lasting civil war, has carved out an outstanding position for itself as a metropolis of the future; it is sometimes referred to as the Dubai of Africa. The reflection of memory and violence in Angolan history is one of the main topics in António Ole’s artwork. The artist was born into a mixed Angolan and Portuguese family in 1951. His first exhibitions in Luanda took place at the end of the 1960s, before independence. After finishing his film studies in Los Angeles in the early 1980s, Ole returned to Angola, and today he is one of the country’s most important artists. Even though he has exhibited in important venues like the biennales of Venice, São Paulo, and Havana, one of his main concerns is the establishment of better connections within the African continent. Thus he aims to work and exhibit more within African networks and has recently changed the focus of his artistic projects to new and intriguing topics. This article offers an overview of his artistic life and most important exhibitions and an analysis of his major artworks.
keep reading Nadine Siegert’s article here
