Art as Politics

There was a time during the 90's when I was known as an Artists' Representative, and not as a graduate in Interior Design.  So it was that for three weeks in February 1995 for Black History Month I  produced and with the help of the artists themselves, curated, Representing African Heritage.

Six artists of African descent took possession of three large galleries at 80 Spadina.  Representing African Heritage showed the state of contemporary black art in Toronto.

An art exhibit of this magnitude was a historic event for Toronto.  Why?  Because Representing comprised the most ambitious collection of quality work by artists of African descent that had up to this point in time been assembled in this city. 

Its aim was to show Toronto African Heritage in the primary position. 

Faki is a graduate of the University of Toronto, Faculty of Art and Art History.  He was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1969.

"The works I did between 1990 and 1992 were large and impregnated with the rage of my youth and African heritage."

This work is an woodcut done on sheets of plywood.  The work is so large that it took one entire gallery room to contain it.

Representing African Heritage was filmed and now resides in the CBC archives. 

I produced this large show privately, and since then this singular event has spawned yearly art exhibitions for Black History Month, all of them now corporate-sponsored.