As part of Efie Gallery’s foray into the UAE art scene, the new arrival has brought in three new pieces and ongoing work by renowned artist El Anatsui, along with works by 20 contemporary artists from Africa and its diaspora.
It has also set up a pavilion at the Burj Plaza that has been specially designed by Ghanaian architect Alice Asafu-Adjaye for its launch last week, which coincided with the All Africa Festival in Downtown Dubai.
The pavilion is wrapped in a curving lattice made of wood and its interior galleries flow into each other. The design mirrors the exhibition’s theme of connections, highlighting the links between African artists across generations and the making of artistic ties between Africa and the region.
“We’ve connected revered and acclaimed artists with emerging and mid-career contemporary African artists,” says Afia Owusu-Afriyie, one of the gallery’s curators. In the show, Anatsui’s works are presented alongside other established names such as Ghanaian photographer James Barnor and painters Larry Otoo and Betty Acquah, as well as younger talents Yaw Owusu, Isshaq Ismail and Kojo Dwimoh, among others.
The highlight is undoubtedly Anatsui’s new body of work. Known for his assemblage sculptures made from bottle caps and wire, the artist, who is from Ghana and lives in Nigeria, has shown in major institutions in the region and across the world. In 2015, he was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement by the Venice Biennale. Previously, his work has been shown at the Sharjah Biennial and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
His 80-metre sculpture Detsi, vivid with deep reds and yellows, is an ongoing work that the artist began in 2008, while Silent One from 2021 is a black and gold piece that looks as slick and molten as oil. Striking in their colour and the fluidity of the metallic material, the works also contemplate the role of liquor, used as currency in the transatlantic slave trade, in linking Europe, Africa and North America.
Efie Gallery is also presenting one of the artist’s lesser-known wood panel sculptures from this year. Made by scorching varicoloured wood planks – a process employed by the artist to refer to brutal histories of colonial powers in Africa – the patterns on the work seem to spell out a genetic sequence, as the title DNA indicates.