ART NEWS / Kehinde Wiley opens an artist residency in Senegal
Los Angeles native and New York-based artist Kehinde Wiley announces the launch of “Black Rock Senegal”, a brand new multidisciplinary artist-in-residency program.
In a statement, Wiley said:
“Black Rock Senegal came out of a direct need to engage Africa in a much more personal way. I discovered Dakar on a layover in 1997, back when Air Afrique was the sole provider of flights from the west to Nigeria. It was my first visit to Africa and I was immediately enraptured by Senegalese language, food, art, culture, and tradition.
After years of exploring the continent’s many cultures and countries I had a personal desire to create a workspace in West Africa. As an Artist who works in the west I desired a space of renewal to explore new ideas and to create work outside of a western context—to create work within the context of my own lineage. Black Rock stands as the direct answer to my desire to have an uncontested relationship with Africa, the filling in of a large void that I share with many African Americans. With this project I wanted to explore my own personal relationship with Africa while inviting artists to do the same and to galvanize the growing artistic and creative energies that exist in Africa in an increasing measure with the addition of diverse, international, creative possibility.”– Kehinde Wiley, 2019
Located on the westernmost point of continental Africa, Black Rock will bring together an international group of visual artists, writers, and filmmakers to join Kehinde Wiley at his new artists compound. Black Rock seeks to support new artistic creation by promoting conversations and collaborations that are multigenerational, cross-cultural, international, and cross-disciplinary. Named for the volcanic rocks that blanket its shoreline, Black Rock takes its physical location as a point of departure to incite change in the global discourse around Africa in the context of creative evolution.
Residents will be invited to Dakar for between one and three months to live and create works at Black Rock. During their stay, residents will be introduced to local artists, artisans, and arts organizations in and around Dakar as well as in other regions of Senegal.
Applications for the first year of Black Rock are due on April 15, 2019 and will be reviewed and chosen by a committee. The residency’s inaugural group of artists will be announced in early May.
For additional information about Black Rock please visit blackrocksenegal.org
For additional information about Kehinde Wiley please visit kehindewiley.com
