Share this article
Starting today, over 100 artefacts by 19 young African artists from African Leadership Academy’s AL for the Arts network can be viewed on the Google Arts & Culture platform enabled through the continued partnership between Google and African Leadership Academy. Thanks to this new virtual exhibition, users will have the opportunity to engage with topics like; The Urgency of the Climate Crisis, which urges humankind to acknowledge the gravity of the climate crisis; and The Intersectionality of the Climate Crisis, which highlights stories about the interconnected social, economic, and cultural factors behind the climate change in Africa. Users can engage with many other treasures in the exhibition in just a few clicks at https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/african-leadership-academy
Digital exhibits
These specially curated virtual exhibits have been developed for online visitors who can view 7 of these interactive exhibitions, were curated by Rayhana Mouaouia, an African Leadership Academy alumna from the class of 2020.
“The Climate Change in Africa exhibition is both a celebration of our continent’s fauna and flora and a call for action to overcome the climate crisis. Curating this exhibition has been an honor, as I had the chance to interact with artists from across the continent. A significant focus in my work as the exhibition’s curator was ensuring the artists’ stories were told in the most authentic way possible. The Climate Change in Africa exhibition is a platform for African artists and climate advocates to amplify African narratives around nature and our relationship to our environment. I am very excited for the Google Arts & Culture audience to experience the Climate Change in Africa exhibition artwork along with the guided audio tour, courtesy of our artists” said Rayhana Mouaouia.
The digital exhibition aims to amplify the voices of African artists who specialize in climate change art. Some of the most important items of the online exhibition are:
Finding Womanhood in Nature:
- In this exhibit, the powerful relationship between nature and womanhood is brought to the fore by our female artists. While the artists express themselves using different media, their works are in dialogue with each other as they begin to unpack their identities.
Nature as a tool for Self-Reflection:
- The art pieces under this theme walk us through guided meditation, self-exploration, and shadow work. The exhibit welcomes us on a journey to reflect on our relationship to the fauna and flora. To reckon with our past mistakes and see ourselves in nature around us. It calls us to unlearn our past habits and work towards creating better futures for us and for Mother Nature.
The Intersectionality of the Climate Crisis:
- The stories under this category highlight the interconnected social, economic, and cultural factors behind the climate crisis in Africa. The artwork is centered around the intersection between gender vulnerability, socio-economical marginalization, and climate change-related challenges.
Matt Maralack, AL for the Arts Sector Lead said,
“The climate change conversation globally and on the African continent is a unique opportunity to analyze the intersections of energy, food, socio-political, economic and gender challenges that will be exacerbated without urgent innovative and creative solutions to climate change. The arts are a tool to bring awareness to these challenges and a platform that gives imagination to a different reality that takes advantage of the opportunities that climate change affords us. AL for the Arts is proud to amplify the voice of young African artists that wish to participate in this important conversation, sharing their creative perspectives on the challenges and opportunities that climate change presents us.”
To view the Climate Change in Africa art exhibition, visit the Google Arts and Culture website here: https://artsandculture.google.com/partner/african-leadership-academy
To learn more about AL for the Arts network visit the website here: https://networks.africanleadershipacademy.org/al-for-the-arts/ or visit the Instagram page here: https://www.instagram.com/alforthearts/
About African Leadership Academy
African Leadership Academy (ALA) seeks to transform Africa by developing a powerful network of young leaders who will work together to address Africa’s greatest challenges, achieve extraordinary social impact, and accelerate the continent’s growth trajectory. The AL for the Arts Network is a community of creative ALA students, alumni, Mastercard Foundation scholars and partners, who are focused on creating opportunities for Africa within the Arts sector to address.
About Google Arts & Culture
Google Arts & Culture puts the treasures, stories and knowledge of over 2.000 cultural institutions from 80 countries at your fingertips. If Google’s mission is to make the world’s information more accessible, then Arts & Culture’s mission is to make the world’s culture accessible to anyone, anywhere. It’s your doorway to explore art, history, and wonders of the world. Discover stories about cultural heritage ranging from Van Gogh’s bedroom paintings, Puerto Rico’s heritage, Sports in Australia or the women’s right movement to ancient Maya temples, Japanese Food and Indian Railways.
