women artists building bridges between cultures

Photography of the sculpture Lyra Akissi Ouattara taken by the photographer Ianne Kenfack Kitio. Both of them were in an artist residency at Abidjan.

This vertical painting is a self-portrait by Bianca Batlle-Nguema. The shadow cast by the drape on the right-hand side of the work is the part with which the artist is most satisfied.

If we'd known that we'd have to look after our children alone, that marriage had so much loneliness and hardship in store for us, would we have made the same decisions?

The artwork is a memory of a dress, that was stolen from the artist when she was a teenager, by her cousin who molested her.

The great journey we make through life, is simply the story of a soul starting from beyond the bounds of eternity, sojourning through time, and on, into other realities. While we pass through many dawns and midnights, shedding our multiple selves till we attain refinement, we may lose our paths, but purpose has a lifeline that restores us. What we leave behind, is a bold legacy, across the face of time with consistency; change being the only dynamic constant.

In Untitled, we are presented with fresh and vivid colours some of which reference the vegetation and topography of Lamu island.

These pieces are about the new way I look at black women’s bodies. Racialized women face many challenges, starting with claiming their sexual and reproductive rights- the right to own their body.
The wearing of masks relates to the current Covid-19 safety measures. Without a full face to look at, the women could be anybody, leaving the viewer to superimpose their own person.