the news, the the recently, the car hosted its safety be, you know, of contemporary african art. the origin of african arts stretches far beyond recorded history. the continents oldest known beads crafted from the serious shells or worn as personal ornaments, more than 72000 years. evidence of complex

paint making dates back a 100000 years, the across african reserves carvings that tells the story of life thousands of years ago. the yes for centuries, africa's artist and cultural legacy has been misrepresent. as european explorers reached the west african coast, they encountered sophisticated and traditional sculptures, textile and ceremonial objects, each with its own distinct, social, and spiritual importance. but instead of seeing them as high art, europeans dismissed them, placing them outside the western definition of art. colonialism

reinforced this distortion in the 19th century. african arts was often called primitive western institutions and collectors, reduced its significance to anthropological pieces rather than legitimate artistic expression. but by the early 20th century, a shift began art historians such as karl einstein and leo for menus. we just find african art as an aesthetic and intellectual tradition. meanwhile, europe in moderns, like go get progressive and my teeth were inspired by its bold forms and a wrong emotional power. integrating african influences into their own

revolutionary style. despite this new found recognition, african artists largely remains on the margins of the global arts. but as african nations gained independence in the mid 20th century arts began reclaiming their narrative using their work to explore feeds of national identity, post colonial struggles and the economic realities of their confidence. in this edition of talk to al jazeera, we meet 3 women at the forefront of the contemporary applicant, part dynamic, diverse, and increasingly recognized globally as the artist on the content and in the diaspora shaping the new dialogue on history resilience and the future.

the because it's the culture. ringback as contemporary african arts, narrative shifts, sending goals when we jo, has played an important role as art critic and specialist, deeply engaged in west africa's modern arts. she has focused on bridging the gap between african artists and the global markets. but how does the world perceive african art today? is it truly understood and valued on its own terms? let me tell you, are a contemporary art specialist. thank you for talking to alex's era, for inside the gallery, where there were a lot of pieces here of contemporary african art, and all of it has been sold that tell us what's going on. that seems to be

a real kind of driver, real excitement around african contemporary art. there's definitely a, a driver we can see why that that's, that's a, that's a given. in this case, it's a very unique perspective because um, it was more like of a story of a collector and an artist. the collector who started collecting because of disorders. so 30 years ago, just had the go for this uh, artist called the for the come a ha, who's a very well known artist and, and uh, basically he wanted to celebrate the fact that african people could collect arts. so that's a, that's new for us. that we have something that is obvious that even african corporations can say we want to buy our artist and support them. and on top of that, there is a historical theme that was also introducing submission was to pay tribute

to the, to hi, you've seen to get a so that you're saying there were those from west africa that spots deliberate and you're absolutely. and those portraits of was like re presented in this galaxy and the fact that the new president has also um visit with getting out of the account for the 1st time. we see the president really watching and looking at the art really brought those so uh, you know, this uh on know to buy uh, arts, even more in and you were saying that there is a lot of people collecting or even an african corporations or companies that are collecting art, is this a business is as it is, but it goes beyond that. i think um, i think people are more proud of who they are. they're more changed to supports their peers to support ours and dec i is a celebration city of art. so i think we, there's definitely

a trigger that is operating currently and i think people are no longer afraid to say i loved the side is i just want to buy this piece and have it show it to the family. so on the market, it seems that a contemporary african, our jump from $16000000000.00 a year to $40000000000.00 in here. mean those are extraordinary numbers. but are these conservative numbers because is all art being sold out there means public. and is this an informal market? is it, how does it work? how does it operate for the continents? i think we cannot rely on western numbers because the west sooners have their way of working. of course everything is documented. it's just the way it is. but in africa again, we don't have that gallery, the tier system of gallery collectors,

institution that is so well put together. so you will have a large potential of numbers are not visible because it happens did sometimes in the smart activity or in a home of enough to use uh, or just the friends of going to see friends of friends and friends and they just buy and there's no way you can track that. so i think we have to be careful with the numbers that we give it. i would say maybe there is more maybe 3 times more. who knows? but the good news is we're part of the conversation. what are people attracted to in african contemporary? what is it that is particularly the buyer. we're live, we are a lot kind of freaking art is a live. it's like when you look at the origin, this, this is something that i can speak for myself because, you know, when i write about the artist or an artwork. i photograph it 1st and do something

that's going on in african arts. and almost like the mystique of the heritage of sexual or military years of ancestry. you can detect that. and i think that's what also triggered the castle because of we said he was in front of the uh, some mask. uh the music the thing. but it's not that he looked at it, he was inspired because the liveliness of the artwork just go straight to your bones and all of a sudden magic happened. and i think that's really what makes us very different from every contemporary art in history. i was extremely happy to see that there is one, a african american man whose names dr. logan, who owns an institution called a 10 north. and he owns a lot of space in miami, in what we call a palo. com, which is the city born in the 20s, out of a fantasy of a billionaire who decided to create the 1001 nights the world with architecture

that reminds us of mosque and moorish. and this gentleman has decided to put 7 exemption of black arts, fantastic arts that tells me that we need to pay more attention. well, one of the thing exemption into north that i saw at the me a buzz in it was the see the key? who's a book enough i so a sculpture who's one of the most hypothetical to today, uh, in the continents. and who also delivered to the govern those to me guys. and i do all his culture in bronze in chance. he did this exemption re present the older master in the european museum. and just that's the, that's the reaction of the people. the collectors that came to me because it was part of the program of outlets and show in miami. were triggered by the fact that to say, oh my god, we never saw a mass there is stolen and re presented in western museum and to print it into

bronze body and the masked in pure bronze, usually the master during woods. so this is another art is that is influencing people to consider another form of buying arts, even though the topic is still very crucial, which is restitution a. so i think collectors regardless, are pay attention. are they buying wood? they're suppose to buy in term of numbers. i say no, but it's still we still, we should not be in a hurry because things are organically happening and i think that's the best way to preserve the contemporary arts. so in order to avoid, to, to go up and then crush right away. at the end of the day, i will part of the world and suits and compensation the touch, the west sooner as or the people for major or the people for middle east or in america on the scene. america will so touched by those realities. arts is just

magic, what are we warning or not? but i feel like african art as something even more special because all the heritage, the, as the series of messaging goes through the hands of the artist. and you can feel as sometimes in some african arts for artists in the african diaspora. the question of identity is often challenging when their work does not only address the present, but also navigates a painful history. the forced displacement of their ancestors through the transatlantic slave trade. the arianna jackson is an african american photographer and filmmaker who brings this past into sharp focus to her work mom.

in her latest video installation, she calls journey of the deep sea dweller. she traces the journey of those taken from africa. imagining their stories lost beneath the waves, especially those of the women wintered the brutal cross. through her arch, jackson builds a bridge between africa and its diaspora honoring their memory while moving forward . you know, as the, as the translator slave trade, you know, as a black american, black us, americans, there's a, there's a quite a tension around and you know who we are and our story and the multiple nationalities that make up our blood. right. and so, and when you're, you know, this kind of feeling of the confidence as the home, you know, is also it's helpful. and it's to help them so many generations. but then as you

begin to engage with africa, you vincent gaze with the multiplicity of the complexity of the country, of the countries that are here. and so, you know, and sometimes it can feel a little bit alienating to be in the diaspora because you're kind of outside and inside at the same time. so, and this is like, this equating a incredible and so this is eviction of mom. you want to a water spirit, right? actually we're actually looking right now as a candidate and a um, a work that's based on key on the account as a momma, watch the from angola, the word mind we want to is use a lot in the francophone countries here, but now, um, but then some who might be familiar with the euro, but nigerian pantheon they might have heard of, again, my or, or soon. and the idea is that different bodies of, you know, it's an animal concepts, right? but the different bodies of words of water have a spirit in do these waters periods exist in, in the united states. yeah. you have a lot of, um,

people's belief systems that, that were brought a lot of across the atlantic with, with the people. and there was a lot of work that was done to mask it but, but needs to credit the christiane etc. so we're doing and hate see is an example of that. you know, so they're one of the, the, the resistance of it, like acts of resistance and one of the many as to what to keep that. so for me, this is lance, it is our home, the atlantic is where, because these got these people that came, were not yet, they were still ask for, can they were coming from ships that came from the congo that came from gambia. they came from, you know, senegal that came from don, us, are we saying that the land take is home for those that do not belong? absolutely, absolutely. in our and our spirits are, there are bodies or there are physical. decomposed bodies are part of the floor of

the fight, part of the, the kelp part of every aspect of it. because so many, i mean, you have to have 15000000 bodies. right? um, and then many millions didn't even make it because of being thrown overboard because of something ships, etc. so we are part of the eco system of the, of the sea and that, and particularly that routes that, that route of the slave trade. so it's, it is, it's, it's what, it's what binds us there's, there's a migraine crisis here in san diego with a lot of people dying, trying to make it to europe, to spain. and and so in this mid, in, in bringing dismiss inside this museum, when you're trying to tell us the history that, and the, the tradition of respecting was the, in the end to see this is how the spiritual selves, you know, there's

a universe where we are we are all connected by watts or the all of humanity is connected by water. we must respect the water that the people that, that are created, the, the, the methodologies or the, or the gods that, or the spirit that we're talking about. they understood that implicitly they understood that there was an implicit and is a true connection between our c, our water and our bodies. so, you know, to imagine these characters, to imagine our connection in general is what is essential to me. but beyond that, again, i really want us to respect what happens in the middle passage. i want us to remember what happens and i want us to be able to is to and to keep that, that net via the atlantic ocean between the african experience and the black dashboard variance. i want to tie this back into the be now where we are to the black civilization museum, but also to visit car be, you know,

how important is it for you to have this here right here into the car, senegal, just as a has for you to be able to come to be here, you know, i have friends right now that are at glory islands at the slave dungeon there and at all the dungeons, the ones and gone a minute for me. it was, i mean, of the 1st time at some point you stand at a place, it's called the, the door of no return. and that doorbell, no return, is a very small door that they would leave the insulated peoples shackled out of the dungeon and onto the sleeping vessels and the doors, the gate of no return, just the word it says you not meant to return. so to actually come back, not only to have to, to, to have survived centuries of, of the slave trade because we weren't meant as women to build that country and

disappear. i don't know what they would do with us, but you know, to actually be able to come back to the confidence. so then come to come to senegal . and then to exhibit a work like this, from my point of view, as, as, as a to come home to this. but it's, i'm not going to try on your screen. but it's but it's a, it's, it's a serious, long minutes for my, for me, individually and culturally to, to, to be here at all on this plan. but also to have the opportunity to be in conversation with senegalese artist artists from all over the world. the, at the center of this artistic dialogue is the, the car be, you know, one of africa's most significant cultural and artistic events. more than just

an exhibition. it is a platform for exchange where artist, from the continent and beyond converge to redefine the global art landscape solely months. a job is a senegalese to reader. and under her vision the be, you know, highlights how art can serve as both an anchor to the past. and a guide to the future is the content throughout cnn. so it's really about uh, welcoming this, this content recreate says, and invite them to express themselves. the theme, the wake of, sorry, much came from the work. can you explain what the week is for you? and what you're trying to evoke in the way it is about us, about waking up in the well, that's in the crisis, environmental, social and, and personal. and it came from me, from

a thoughts from the convicts crisis came from my reading of the book in the wake by dr. chris, in the shop. it's about waking up. it's about the wake of, of the, both of the, it, it just references the slave trader, it references colonial history. and it's also called to these road, yes for us, from everywhere in the wells. and we have here all to is from mexico, from antenna from colombia, from the us. what are you trying to evoke and this call in the artist that you have chosen? i'm trying to call everyone to just to accept that we need the transformation. we need to make a change, we need to change our direction and the weight will also follow that change of direction. i think thoughts will take you to think about what's

happening to all well in another way, then the scientific article will it will actually allow you to, to feel to know how it makes you feel actually makes you feel and to come back to this stuff. so transformation that is necessary before any other transformation. it's interesting that you talked about transformation because as i've understood in this building, you've transformed it, right? you know, the cluttered this colonial building. what were you trying to do? i was afraid that so, so i think as a crate to this building is a monster and it's like the amino so it's a huge most elaborate and i went into this world with it at 1st,

but it became more about actually how to understand it. how to give it also the respect, for instance, in this subject that value i what, what is it called sensitive i be able to so so the room of last steps. yes, that's really cool. yeah. so this was a room where what would happen then people would just wait, i guess, or i think they were waiting for the trials. it's incredible that you're taking you over this colonial building. right and making it your own this sense of ownership. you feel that there's the same sense among young africans at this moment to try to re appropriate something and what is that? something that they're trying to it will take time. it will take time. it will take lots of validation and lots of work because the colonial

time was so long as well. and you don't so snap and say you independence site. and we know that we still very much a confronted to a structure that is very still i think for instance, who incident again that is indeed a movement that is ongoing. and i, i hope that this do not because this theme actually give a, a accurate reflection of what's happening for these alters but also for these sites is these countries they come from. obviously some people would go to the contemporary arts gallery or museum. you would think it would be not so much people off the streets, but maybe, you know, highbrows intellectuals and, and, and the 1st was the and how did you insure,

or are you trying to ensure that anyone can have access to it and how it is a difficult task also because of the space and, and this building of this facade and so intimidating. it has been built in all the to be intimidating. and i don't think the architects this friend shop to architects in the fifty's wanted to this to be a welcoming space where anyone feels they can walk in and be welcome. so the best thing we've done is as great as we decided to show a welcome to the facades selection break, that's willing to actually make the out 6 pills out of the space. and we didn't pick any work. we fix the the all to do. now if you know you this from haiti,

we've actually in her work for francine. height is that has heightened history and who's what we, we students who actually made a collective box, the person works indian and who's also referencing that. the fact that these, these are colonial building insulation building and the fact that the rooms at the feet of her works. i spent a lot of time working on my vision to transform the status. and to actually show case these all to you and you versus to read, it gives them the understanding state is a, there's so much vulnerability it seems in, in a lot of the art that we're seeing if you have any message to give to such as people who are friends after caribbean descent or african, anybody who has this sense of not belonging, right?

if this is something that you're, you're kind of tapping into what message would you have to those that are trying to find a place to express their art being and not this is already belonging to a very special family. well, sometimes people will create the size of the there is less rationality. oh that things are less built. easy to understand that. well actually i think the people of the most reasonable and the most sense civil because true to senses. and so in motion, they're always just more precise, more inflexible, and in the truth, in some way deliberate in their yes and their approach. so this view then it's, uh, it's not enough. we can do that. it's not even a pen after going to do,

then it says international being at the, from the car to the diaspora around the world past to present it into imagined futures. contemporary african art continues to evolve challenging perceptions, reclaiming narrative, and shaping your identities the in by told by internal conflicts disease. and um then um, when done, this is of cruise has made the country's economy unstable. let me go. christy, if any deals can put democratic alger 0. it examines how struggling nation seeks to build new alliances and its quest for stability which may come to

a very high cost for cause new directions. money. turning the tide on al jazeera, the latest news as it breaks this, a for dial ceasefire office of crucial life life. these patients are cling to lots of things during months without profit shot with detailed coverage. thousands of pregnant women are suffering from malnutrition, the hydration and extreme stress conditions that with both their life and their baby actress from the house of the story. these shots have been closed due to the fog. their owners have been forced. that board filled the

the, the tears of joy in garza and the occupied west by more than 300 palestinian prisoners of detainees are released from his very jails in the 6th prisoners. well, obviously is fine. the us and this is all 0 life and don't have also coming up. 3 is there any captives are handed over by hamas and islamic jihad in garza, they've been very united with their loved ones and is an officer more than 15 months.