Deep Roots, New Shoots: Modern and Contemporary African Art from the KAM Collection features forty African artworks created between the 1960s and the early 2020s.
Andie Near with the museum talks about how the exhibit came to be.
“What the museum was built for was to sort of bring the world to Hope College. So since we opened, we started collecting artwork from all over the world.”
And one of those places was the continent of Africa.
“What we wanted to do is we wanted to show sort of a sampling of contemporary art coming out of Africa today.”
The pieces represent a diverse variety of styles and reflect a broad range of themes and issues, from ethnic and national pride to struggles against various forms of injustice and inequality.
“It’s paying homage to a deep, rich African tradition while also being very contemporary.”
Near says the exhibition is a great way for people to learn about all the different forms of art that are coming from an often-overlooked region of our world.
“I think it’s a really beautiful way to sort of showcase the talents of a very diverse body of people.”
The exhibit runs through May 18th and admission to the Kruizenga Art Museum on the Hope College campus is always free.
