Africa 1:1, Five African artists at Ca' Pesaro: Group Exhibition

Venice, Ca’ Pesaro, International Gallery of Modern Art

20th May – 1st October 2023

Curated by

Elisabetta Barisoni

Lidija Kostic Khachatourian 

Supported by

Kristian Khachatourian 

Serge Tiroche 

In collaboration with

AKKA Project 

Africa First by Serge Tiroche

Ca' Pesaro, International Gallery of Modern Art welcomes AFRICA 1:1 Five African artists at Ca' Pesaro, an exhibition of site-specific works created by Option Nyahunzvi (b. 1992 Zimbabwe), Pamela Enyonu (b. 1985 Uganda), Alexandre Kyungu (b. 1992 DRC), Boniface Maina (b. 1987 Kenya) and Ngugi Waweru (b. 1987 Kenya). The exhibition is the result of a project brought forward by AKKA Project, Africa First and Ca' Pesaro which, in the spirit of the 18th Architecture Biennale, created AFRICA 1:1 LAB, Artists Residency Program, an artist residency project that has brought five young African artists to experience the vibrant Venetian artistic environment and, at the same time, to offer their personal creative contribution to the city, which is preparing for the 18th Architecture Biennale's Laboratory of the Future, curated by Lesley Lokko. 

The residencies saw the creation of five working spaces, real studios, at AKKA Project and at the same time the immersion of the young African artists in the cultural context of Venice and of Ca' Pesaro in particular. Through the study of the Gallery's history, of the original documents and artists’ works in the permanent collection, the five artists-in-residence constructed new dialogues with the city's visual tradition and with the history of the palazzo on the Grand Canal.