ARS 11 in Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma
15 April -27 November
PRESS RELEASE 14 Apr 2011


ARS 11 Will Change Your Perceptions about Africa and Contemporary Art 

ARS 11 exhibition in Kiasma, Helsinki will open 15 April. The ARS 11
exhibition investigates Africa in contemporary art. The exhibition
features some 300 works by a total of 30 artists. The Kiasma Theatre
also has a programme of ARS events and performances. In addition to
artists living in Africa, the show also features others who live outside
the continent, artists of African descent as well as Western artists who
address African issues in their work.

The themes of the exhibition, such as migration, environmental problems
and urban life are global, issues that affect us all. Memory,
recollection and the simultaneous presence of different histories and
layers of time are some of the common starting points of the work of
many artists featured in the exhibition. At best ARS 11 can produce new
understanding and also provide background information on the situation
in today’s Africa. The exhibition will extend the idea of what Africa,
contemporary art and African contemporary art are today.

ARS 11 is a major international art event filling Kiasma with artworks,
performances, screenings, discussions and workshops. The ARS 11 curator
team are Pirkko Siitari, Director of Kiasma, Arja Miller, Chief Curator,
and Jari-Pekka Vanhala, Curator. The ARS 11 programme for Kiasma Theatre
will be compiled by Riitta Aarniokoski. The themes of the exhibition and
the artists are presented in richly illustrated exhibition catalogue. 

The artists of exhibition are Georges Adéagbo, b. 1942 Benin, lives and
works in Cotonou; Ardmore Ceramic, ArtKwaZulu-Natal, South-Africa; Sammy
Baloji, b. 1978, Democratic Republic of Congo, lives and works in
Lubumbashi ; Ursula Biemann, b. 1955 Switzerland, lives and works in
Zürich¸ Baaba Jakeh Chande, b. 1971 Zambia, lives and works in
Helsinki; Kudzanai Chiurai, b. 1981 Zimbabwe, lives and works in
Johannesburg; Steven Cohen, b. 1962 South Africa, lives and works in
Paris; El Anatsui, b. 1944 Ghana, lives and works in Nsukka, Nigeria;
Samba Fall, b. 1977 Senegal, lives and works in Oslo; Rotimi
Fani-Kayode, 1955 Nigeria - 1989 Great Britain; Samuel Fosso, b. 1962
Cameroon; Patrizia Guerresi Maïmouna, b. 1951 Italy, lives and works in
Montefore d’Alpone and Milan;  Ditte Haarløv Johnsen, b. 1977 Denmark,
lives and works in Copenhagen; Romuald Hazoumè, b. 1962 Benin, lives and
works in Porto Novo; Laura Horelli, b. 1976 Finland, lives and works in
Berlin; Pieter Hugo, b. 1976 South Africa, lives and works in Cape Town;
Alfredo Jaar, b. 1956 Chile; lives and works in New York; Michael
MacGarry, b. 1978 South Africa, lives and works in Cape Town¸ Vincent
Meessen, b. 1971 USA, lives and works in Brussels; Nandipha Mntambo, b.
1982 Swaziland, lives and works in Cape Town; Baudouin Mouanda, b. 1981
Republic of Congo, lives and works in Brazzaville; Otobong Nkanga, b.
1974 Nigeria, lives and works in Antwerpen; Odili Donald Odita, b. 1966
Nigeria, lives and works in Philadelphia; J.D. ’Okhai Ojeikere, b.
1930 Nigeria, lives and works in Lagos; Emeka Ogboh, b. 1982 Nigeria,
lives and works in Lagos; Abraham Onoriode Oghobase, b. 1979 Nigeria,
lives and works in Lagos; Andrew Putter, b. 1965 South Africa, lives and
works in Cape Town; Elina Saloranta, b. 1968 Finland, lives and works in
Helsinki; Mary Sibande, b. 1982 South Africa, lives and works in
Johannesburg and Barthélémy Toguo, b. Cameroon, lives and works in
Bandjou and Paris.

Moments of Beauty is a coproduction with CCA Lagos and an independently
curated part of ARS 11 exhibition. Guest curators for the Moments of
Beauty, an exhibition of photographic work by J.D. ’Okhai Ojeikere,
are Bisi Silva and Aura Seikkula.

ARS 11 will be part of the programme of the Capital of Culture year
2011 in Turku. The contribution of Kiasma will include two video
installations from its collections: Where is Where? (2008) by Eija-Liisa
Ahtila and in June WESTERN UNION: Small Boats (2007) by Isaac Julien.
This part of the ARS 11 exhibition is produced in cooperation with the
Kiasma Foundation. ARS 11 will extend across Finland and also to
Stockholm, Sweden. The satellite exhibitions will be curated and
produced by the partner museums and will showcase the themes of ARS 11.


Information for the media: Kiasma’s Communications
Piia Laita, tel. +358 (0)9 1733 6507, piia.laita@kiasma.fi
Päivi Oja,  tel. +358 (0)9 1733 6534, paivi.oja@kiasma.fi 
Photos for the media www.kiasma.fi/press