West Africa has arrived in Manchester with one
hell of a splash – courtesy of We Face
Forward. This is a summer long programme of art and music across many different
venues, and for my first taste I went to the exhibition at the Whitworth Art
Gallery.
It all starts in Whitworth Park itself, where the trees
are alive to the African sounds via speakers wired up throughout the walkways, creating a very lively carnival atmosphere (if you disdainfully ignore the obligatory
Bank Holiday rain that is). In the gallery itself, West African culture has
pretty much taken over proceedings, with the lush main room transformed by
Pascale Marthine Tayou into a forest of trees overhung by a rainbow of colours.
The paintings and photos themselves are brilliant
and vivid - some with a serious message. The title of the event is taken
from Ghanaian President Nkrumah when he said in 1960 that they faced neither East
nor West in the Cold War hostilities, ‘but we face forward’. There is a very
lively upbeat feel to the whole place, helped along by some fabulous African
drumming.
Some particular favourites of mine were the moving
and honest photos of Ghana by Nii Obodai, and the poster for the Pan African
Congress. I will definitely be checking out the other venues to see what they
have to offer, particularly the dresses at the Gallery of Costume at Platt
Fields. This is just what we need to chase away the British summertime
weather blues and put a bit of colour into our lives.
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