The article examines the history of the formation and development of one of the most biased areas of contemporary fine art – African modernism. At the origins of its creation were outstanding masters: Uche Okeke (Nigeria), Ibrahim al Salahi (Sudan), El Anatsui (Ghana) and others. Within the framework of African modernism, there was a fusion of traditions of the continent's peoples and modern forms and genres, as well as symbols, images, signs of visual, verbal and contextual culture.

Keywords: African modernism, uli, ulism, sign, identity.

Contemporary fine art in Africa is one of the components of the world's artistic culture. Its history is inextricably linked with the history of Africa and the Diaspora, Europe and America. This is a history of outstanding achievements of Africans: artists, sculptors, designers, and it develops ahead of the theory of African art.

African artists entered the world's artistic elite as followers of the traditions laid down by the French Impressionists, Fauvists, Surrealists, German expressionists, Italian futurists, and Russian avant-gardists. Their number is small. Mostly they are intellectual artists. They have successfully integrated into the modern avant-garde (or modernism). Thus, a bridge was created that connected two historical eras-traditional and modern art.

The turn of the XX-XXI centuries. in art, it was marked by the flourishing of African modernism (in foreign research literature, the term "African avant-garde"is also used in relation to this direction). The controversy of these two terms is exaggerated, although it should be agreed that neither the style, nor the means, nor the technique used in its framework are purely African. Meanwhile, the emotional charge (polyphony, polychromy, rhythms, codes), the semantic content of the plot (images, symbols, signs), the transcendence and play characteristic of traditional art make African modernism (and the avant – garde) – due to its authenticity and uniqueness-one of the most engaged areas of modern fine art.

There are currently two major art schools in Africa within the modernist tradition. They emerged simultaneously (at the dawn of the 1960s) in Nigeria and Sudan, where, unlike other countries of the continent, there was a relatively developed infrastructure of museum and exhibition business, there were educational institutions in which professional artists were trained. The School of Fine Arts and Crafts in Khartoum was established in 1946, and the Department of Fine and Applied Arts of the University of Nigeria in Nsukka was established in 1961.

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At the origins of African modernism were famous masters: Uche Okeke (Nigeria) and Ibrahim al Salahi (Sudan). Their fates are similar. Almost the same age (I. Salahi is three years older: he was born in 1930, W. Okeke - in 1933), they received a brilliant education, gained a reputation for excellent draughtsmen, experimented in the framework of calligraphy, studied the world artistic heritage and folklore, and established themselves in the idea of the primacy of synthesis on the path of progressive development of art. Both were engaged in teaching, research and literary activities, considered creativity a mystery ,a "miracle", an "epiphany", considered their gift as a vocation and obedience, and in art they valued the opportunity to admire the invisible and listen to the unsaid.

The word in their works lives in the colors, contours of drawings, images that come from the depths of memory. Its texture is complex and contains individual and collective experience, a fusion of irrational-intuitive and rational, constructive principles. It merges the rational and the emotional, combining myth (ancient and African) and history (oral and written, regional and universal).

Both masters are fed with the "milk" of two mothers: European and African. Although belonging to two cultures, like bilingualism, does not create a single culture, it significantly expands personal space and horizons, giving rise to a polyphony of sensations (verbal and visual) that can only exist in conditions of constant feeding from the outside. The genetic substratum of African modernism is contradictory: artists were equally nourished by the works of ancient authors, Shakespeare, Goethe; paintings by Pieter Brueghel, Pablo Picasso, and Salvator Dali; and the culture of NOK1. However, such a bifurcation 2 gave rise to a new worldview, and with it a new angle of view. Both were impressed by hoaxes (and provocations) in literature and art. They also created their own myths, synthesizing the spiritual experience of humanity, embodying it in visible images.

The pandemic of success among Africans became a reality at the end of the 20th century. The first International Congress of Black writers and artists was held at the Sorbonne in 1956, giving an impetus to the development of art. Paris has become a mecca for artists. They did not seek to be fashionable (for more details, see [Mudimbe, 1994]), but wanted to become modern and popular. Exoticism was not to their taste. Largely due to their activity, the Museum of National Art of Africa and Oceania was opened in Paris in 1989. Museums of contemporary African art have sprung up in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Dozens of studios and galleries have opened in European capitals, especially in London, replicating African art.

In the 1970s and 1980s, young Ouattara studied the works of P. Picasso, A. Matisse, X. Miro, and C. Brancusi in Paris. Paris became a "university" for him [Fusion..., 1993, p. 10]. The atmosphere of the French capital with its special spirituality (and idealism) led the artist to the idea that art should be universal. A black African who graduated from a French school in Abidjan, a fan of modernism and Western values, the son of a medicine man, who went through initiation, reverent for the forces of nature, came to the realization that all people, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender – are brothers, and" Africanism "is not the main human dignity, because, according to him, "Africanism" is not the main human dignity. However, no one asks the question of how French (or even European) is the work of P. Gauguin.

1 NOK culture – arhsological and traditional culture (see: [Africa. Encyclopedia, vol. 2, p. 286]).

2 Bifurcation-partitionis, bifurcation, branching.

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The first solo exhibition of the artist was held in Paris. In 1989, he painted the painting "Self-initiation"3. It was completed in New York, but is considered the last work of the Parisian period. It ended the period of thinking about identity. In the United States, the artist felt like a master, a "star" of world galleries.

Ouattara's work is called an African form of European modernism. He himself believes that the artist, like the viewer, should be free to determine preferences and orientations. He doesn't like it when critics try to decode or interpret his work [Fusion..., 1993, p.7], although symbols, signs, and codes mean a lot to him.

In the last third of the 20th century, a large colony of African artists was formed in London. They managed to break down stereotypes in the field of perception of African art. It was no longer considered an alternative. "In the context of globalization, it (contemporary African art – T. G.)... simply had to become universal" [Looking Both Ways, p. 69-70]. These words of the designer O. A. Bamgboya were shared by many. He himself successfully integrated new technologies, new images (airplanes, computers, mobile phones) and ideas into his work, demonstrating the cult of things characteristic of the consumer society or contempt (indifference) to it. This is evidenced by his works: "Without masks 2" (1999); "Without Masks 3" (2001); " Perhaps this is the way out "(1992-2000).; "Cruel Life "(2003). An African with a book replaced an African with a bicycle from his canvases. The masked god was replaced by the transistor god (Ibrida Africa, 2002, p. 113).

African Londoners have become trendsetters in the arts. In 1990, the first art fair was held in London, where artists from Africa and the diaspora participated. In 1995, London became the first venue for the "African Season", organized under the patronage of the Royal Academy of Arts.

The African Season is one of the biggest cultural events in Great Britain at the end of the 20th century. Its organizer and organizer, member of the Royal Academy of Arts, artist and collector of African art Tom Phillips made a bet on the syncretism of African culture. He suggested that a number of events aimed at promoting contemporary visual arts, music, theater, literature, and cinema should be combined in time and space. The season opened on October 4 with the presentation of the exhibition "Africa: the Art of the Continent" in the hall of the Royal Academy of Arts. It was visited by more than half a million viewers. The exhibition presented about 800 exhibits from 180 countries of the world – mainly sculpture. The demonstration of achievements in the field of fine arts lasted for three months. More than 50 exhibitions were held in the exhibition halls of the capital (public and private). The program of the season included exhibitions, concerts, theatrical performances, demonstration of documentaries and feature films, conferences, meetings with writers, artists, actors, acquaintance with their work, direct communication. At the end of the "season", some of the exhibits were transported to the USA, Germany and France. In 1996-1997 sculpture of Africa was exhibited in Berlin and New York, clothing and tapestries - in the Museum of Man and private galleries in Paris and Bordeaux.

Later, African fashion weeks were regularly held in London. Major museums in the British capital have provided their sites to African sculptors and artists. In 1999, the "African Festival" was held in Lille. In 2001, Africans participated in the exhibition "Authentic and Eccentric Africa Inside and Outside", the first exhibition of African artists in the prestigious Venice Biennale.

3 The painting "Self-initiation" is dedicated to the memory of the artist Jean Michel Basque, who was born in New York from the marriage of a Haitian and a Puerto Rican woman and went to Africa in search of roots.

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The commitment of contemporary African art is largely due to its transnational nature. Its distinctive feature can be considered intellectualism, and its components are conceptualism, documentalism, and socio-cultural orientation. The syncretism of such attitudes is obvious, but it was in this way that Africans managed to overcome the peripherality that lay on the continent's art, and find success, and with it a very heterogeneous audience. In Africa, these are the educated classes, students and professors, and intellectuals. Outside the continent – Africans and non-Africans, professionals professionally engaged in the study of art, Africanists and lovers of exotics, creative youth and collectors, regular visitors to exhibitions and those who purposefully follow the news of African culture.

The Nigerian school-Nsukki School-is currently represented by world-renowned masters. Among them, W. Okeke, the founder of ulism, and Obiora Udechukwu, who managed to push its boundaries by integrating the verbal tradition, he is called a "talking artist". Within the framework of their works, they combined word and drawing, philosophy and poetry, history and linguistics. In the center of their attention were current events of our time and the fate of people.

Uli is a system of miniature written drawings common in Eastern Nigeria. The carriers of the secret script are women (they painted the walls and tombs), and as a child U. Okeke received it from his mother and sister. Based on them, he created his own style, sophisticated and elegant. His distinctive features were manipulations with lines that, masterfully intertwined, diverged and converged, swelled and thinned, creating an image woven from a variety of signs (dots and dashes, circles and spirals). All of them together and individually had a very ambiguous meaning, encoded and requiring decryption by the author (artist) and co-author (audience). Being inextricably linked with each other, the interweaving of lines and figures gave rise to images (illusory). Strange creatures (people and animals), strange objects in a strange space existed within a different dimension or some new reality, complex and changeable (akin to a dream, a hoax), in a world inaccessible to those who are not able to solve the riddle set by the author.

In 1961, at the Mbari Mbayo 4 Gallery in Ibadan, U. Okeke first presented drawings in the style of ulism: "Jama'a "(1961), "Ana Mmuo" (1961), etc. The exhibition was held in conditions of patriotic enthusiasm. The declaration of independence (Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1960) gave a powerful impetus to the development of art.

The actualization of the traditions of the Igbo people, one of the most numerous and dynamic in Tropical Africa (the Igbo are called African Jews or African Japanese for their ability to adapt and use the achievements of other cultures), by this time reached its peak. The Nigerian Fine Arts Society was established (it was founded in October 1958 in Zaria), and the process of recording works of oral folk art was underway. The main thing for U. Okeka was that he, as an artist, was finally able to tell about himself and the life of his people, about their everyday life and holidays. Focusing on what is invisible and imperceptible, on signs and symbols that are unique and universal for different ethnic groups and cultures, he randomly built them into one chain, endowing them with a miraculous power that allows trance-

Mbari -4 in Igbo languages – "creation", "creativity". Mbari Mbayo – art clubs, creative associations of writers and artists in Nigeria. The first of them was founded in 1961 in Ibadan (Nigeria) by a group of young novelists and playwrights. Among its founders are V. Shoyinka, O. Tutuola, J. Clark, and K. Okigbo. The club had an auditorium, an exhibition space, a publishing house and a workshop school. In Oshogbo, Mbari Mbayo was established, which initiated the first summer school in 1962, where African artists were trained. Over time, they have become regular, and many graduates have received worldwide recognition.

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to form, to move, to disappear, to reappear, to become different and to remain ourselves. Thanks to the artist's talent, the ancient secret script acquired a new meaning, and W. Okeke himself became the founder of a style that is inextricably linked with the artistic culture of Africa and Nigeria: literature, history, language.

Initially, the idea of developing conceptual and contemporary art at the same time was cultivated in the traditions of modernism. Works were considered as an incomplete (unfinished) product, which required the work of thought on the part of the artist and the viewer. The problem with the perception of works was that they could not be interpreted unambiguously. The absolute coherence of the lines created the illusion of viscosity, unsteadiness, and vagueness. The pulsation of visible images (depending on the angle of view, they appeared and disappeared) kept the viewer in suspense, making them doubt not only the correctness of the interpretation of the work, but also the adequacy of perception of reality. So there were artistic improvisations and interpretations of plots.

His technique was based on writing in ink and ink on paper, which reinforced the impression of understatement. Just as traditional Chinese (and Japanese) masters filled the voids on scrolls with poetic lines, W. Okeke and his followers, "talking artists", artists-poets – O. Udechukwu (in the hierarchy of ulists, he is second after W. Okeke). Okeke), Olu Oguibe – used interspersed text on canvases to provide the viewer with a commentary on the comprehension of what he saw. O. Udechukwu used not only uli symbols, but also nsibidi (they were common in the Cross River region). Most often they were two symbols: a spiral and a mirror, sometimes in a cartouche of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.

The subject matter of the works was extremely topical. The artist's task was to teach the audience not just to see, but to see differently (in a different way, in different ways): through the secret veil, through time and distance. For this, in fact, a comment was needed. The creative process became interactive. The artist suggested to the audience the way to unravel the plot through immersion ("feeling") in it. The sensations required comprehension. What I saw gave rise to new images and associations, new thoughts and feelings, and encouraged discussion.

The Nigerian school brought together more than just Nigerians. Sculptor El Anatsui (Ghana) and Lubaina Himid (Tanzania) also belong to the Nsukke Art School, which is true to the Mbari and Ulism traditions.

The sculpture is authentic in nature. E. Anatsuya's works exist simultaneously in two dimensions, demonstrating the connection between the material and spiritual world (the world of things and the world of ideas). In the same vein, the work of Kofi Setor ji (Ghana) is developing. They focus on such issues as genocide and the Holocaust, the history of Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, and Sudan.

Works by L. Himid, displayed in the British galleries of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London as part of the exhibition " Inconvenient Truth. The Ghost of the Slave Trade in Contemporary Art and Design" (February 20-June 17, 2007), which was attended by eleven artists (including E. Anatsui, Anissa-Jane, I. Shoniba ryo, etc.), raised many questions that are difficult to find answers to. Why is slavery considered a thing of the past, why is it discussed in isolation from modern realities? Why is it usually considered in the context of the history of the black race, does it not concern the white one? What is the role of slaves and slaveholders in history, and finally, what are the consequences of the slave trade for both races?

L. Himid considers the slave trade as a phenomenon inherent in the past and present, in the context of history, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and law. Her cycle "Named Money" (2004) includes 100 drawn human figures (16 were presented at the exhibition). Thanks to the author, they found names and started talking. Everyone told the audience their own sad and touching story.

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"My name is Masood.

They call me Dan.

I was supposed to serve the gods,

Now I play at soirees,

But I have their gratitude."

"My name is Vuka.

They call me Sam.

Master's dog follows me everywhere,

Now I'm teaching her how to jump through fire.

We're having fun."

"My name is Malipetsan.

They call me Polly.

I should be able to draw,

I clean the stones,

But I have sunlight."

"My name is Aziza.

They call me Sally,

I loved working with clay,

I'm cleaning now,

But I like my dirt" (translated by my. – T. G.).

The Sudanese school, which is close to the conceptual attitudes of Islamism, has incorporated, along with Christian ones, the traditions of Islam. The commandments of Allah forbade the depiction of living beings, which for centuries hindered the development of fine art in the region of Sudan. However, adherence to the idea that Vladimir Solovyov (as applied to Jews and Judaism) defined as "faith in the invisible and at the same time the desire for the invisible to become visible, faith in the spirit, but only in one that penetrates the material and uses matter as its shell and tool" (Solovyov, 1921, p. 21It corresponded to the ideas of Sufism popular in Sudan, and allowed the Muslim I. al Salahi and his followers to make a "breakthrough", embodying, like the Creator, the spiritual in visible images. Their works, which are largely ideo-cratic, can be considered as a special form of messages addressed to humanity, as a thought embodied in a work. Calligraphy and arabesque play a special role in their works.

Revolt against the rules defined the essence of the artistic style of Sudanese artists. The Louvre, the Prado, Florence, European salons and private galleries, streets illuminated by the light of freedom became" Academies " for them. "Revolution of vision" ("revolution of the eye") they experienced life outside of Africa-during their studies, but only after returning to their homeland did they learn to think independently from nature, to experiment in the field of color and light. Their search for style led them to abstraction.

Due to a conflict with the authorities, Salahi spent six months in prison in 1975, then emigrated and has been living in the UK ever since. In prison, he conceived the idea of his most famous and monumental work, Inevitability (1984-1985) – nine large panels dedicated to the half-century-long civil war, a key event in the history of Sudan (1956-2005). Its plot (and title) echoes Goethe's poem of the same name from the famous collection "West-East Divan", which, in turn, was inspired by the teachings of the Orphics, followers of the ancient Greek religious and mystical teachings that arose in connection with the worship of the mythical singer Orpheus.

"Meanwhile constellations eternal command

Irrevocable; not in our will

Determine your own volition;

Severe duty is granted to the mortal lot.

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The free excitement of the heart will subside,

And arbitrariness will change involuntarily,

Freedom is a dream. In the very movementyears

The boundaries of unfreedom are being pushed closer together" (Goethe, 1982, p. 311).

Collaboration with the Mbari creative association led I. al Salahi to realize that the main task – the mission of the artist – is to represent Sudan in the international arena. Arabic writing (Arabic script) has become the main field of experiments. The openwork, continuous thread of arabesques, in the form of which sayings from the Koran, poems and prose were recorded, not only carried a semantic meaning, but also created a pictorial background of the phrase, aesthetically complemented and enhanced visual perception. Thus harmony of thought, word and letter was achieved. However, And. al Salahi was cramped within the limits of what was allowed.

As a Sufi, being a tool in the hands of the Creator, the artist considered creativity not just as a way of self-expression, but as a measure of his love for it. Potentially, from the point of view of Sufism, he was the embodiment of the divine will and divine qualities. The inseparability of the creator from the creation: its dissolution in absolute transcendence, the desire to unite with God, to merge with him determined the status, ethos and, accordingly, the concept of the master's works. The search for a balance between tradition and identity, between introspection and observation of nature led to the acquisition of new forms in art. His work became a reflection of his relationship with himself and contained a complex of the most diverse sensations and experiences.

A Muslim who prays five times a day and again before starting work, an intellectual who sympathizes with Sufism and the philosophy of the "pure brothers", in his work has reached the point of complete identification with the Creator (with a capital letter – T. G.). Feeling like an intermediary fulfilling the will of Allah: through his "gate", "window", "ear", "eye", the artist was looking for ways to merge the material and spiritual, physical and mental, body and spirit [Adams, 2006, p. 27]. His works took the form of a dialogue with himself (prayer, meditation, seance), with his spirit and body. This ecstatic dialogue between the two principles took place on different levels and was expressed in different ways: drawings on cloth, on the body, on paper, drawings with hands and fingers.

The artist was accused of hedonism and expressionism. For him, it was a search for the truth. The Sufi attitude "I am the truth!", in fact, has always been close to him. However, the search for truth, as well as the search for identity, was more significant and interesting for him (in Sufi monasteries, the desire to study until the end of their days was cultivated). In agony, the magic of the image was born. An example of this is the monumental compositions of I. al Salahi: "The Funeral and the Crescent" (1963); "The Last Sound" (1964– 1965); "Allah and the Wailing Wall" (1964); "The Death of a Child" (1964) and, of course, "Inevitability" (1984-1985). Their inherent theatricality only enhances the context. Faces, postures, and gestures are symbols of the events experienced by the author. You need to look closely at them, paying attention to the details. The magnification effect (haggard faces, bent figures, eyes that no longer shed tears, simultaneous static and dynamic movements) made it possible to fully comprehend the significance of what was happening.

The easel works of the 1970s and 1980s were compositionally similar to Islamic calligraphy. Often the artist depicted something that could not be said in words. The loss of the sacred meaning of his works while preserving the traditional form (for example, a spiritual message) contributed to the expansion of the audience, which perceived them as an abstraction, as a sign that was understandable to Muslims and non-Muslims, Arabs and non-Arabs, Africans and non-Africans.

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Over time, experiments in the field of calligraphy led to the renewal of the style of works. The choice of concise forms and tools became obvious. The search for identity led to an interest in the problems of race and ethnicity, the dialogue of cultures and civilizations, identifying with new force the eternal problems of being: good and evil, black and white. It is in this direction that the followers and disciples of I. al Sa Lahi work. Among them is Rashid Diab, one of the most engaged masters of the Sudanese school. He studied art history and theory. So he was" charged " spiritually. In 1980, he moved to Madrid, where he studied the repository of world masterpieces. In Europe, he was fascinated by the "search for the Sudan" [Fusion..., 1993, p. 22] – it was necessary to return to the roots.R. Diab drew stories from personal experience and tried to look at the world through the prism of history. This is evidenced by the words: "I don't write because I'm Sudanese, African or Arab. I write because I feel that I have a universal language that I must use to communicate with people, so that they understand the world to which I belong" [Fusion..., 1993, p. 45].

He painted the faces of his family and friends. They were part of his life. Over time, their appearance has lost the features of reality. The artist felt the ghost of the past, although, having given free rein to his imagination, he traveled through time and space to his homeland and back. Memories took on a visual form. For him, the past is his homeland, family, and people.

In the 1990s, R. Diab's works took on a different direction. The vision of the world has become colored and multidimensional. Blue, yellow, red, purple, and lilac colors replaced black, white, and yellow-brown. R. Diab created the cycles "Red Air" (1991), "People", and "Paradise". He was trapped in the color.

Africa, its" yesterday"," today "and" tomorrow", three stages of temporary experience, traditional for the system of African knowledge and values, was in the center of artists ' attention. As Africans, they saw the world as inextricably linked between the past, present, and future. Memories – for most, Africa was a thing of the past – were translated into forever lost childhood images. For Sokari, Douglas Kemp is a song of memory, a return to race: "The Woman in the Palm-leaf Skirt" (1986), "Sekibo" (1995), " My World, Your World "(1996), " Sharia Fubara "(2000), etc. For Marcia Kure – fish, birds, fabrics, aromas and rhythms of Africa. For R. Diab – mother, father, sister, friends, land, air, smells and sounds of the night. For Ouattara – magicians and spirits: "Masada" (1993), " Dance of Spirits "(1993)," Nok Culture "(1993)," Nkrumah – Berlin 1885 "(1994)," Hip-hop, Jazz, Makussa "(1995)," Tree of Love " (2002). For Tayo Adenaike, "Shadows of the Past" (1985). For About. Udechukwu-roads, faces, writings: "The Girl and the Ibibio Doll" (1977), "The Road to Abuja" (1982), "The Step of Generations" (1981), "People of the Night" (1985), "Faces and the Faceless" (1985), "Refugees: Mother and Child" (1985), "The Road to Nsukku" (1987), " Portrait of a Philosopher "(1989), "Writing in the Sky" (1989), "Under Masks" (1989), "Path to the Unknown" (1989), "Magnificent Masquerade" (1991), " Spirit of the Cliff "(1992"The Mermaid" (1993)," There are many different things on Earth "(1993)," Different heads, different Thoughts " (1998). For O. Oguibe – the broken bicycle on which he and his parents fled from their native Aba, the bombing, the destroyed houses, the mountains of corpses, the constant feeling of fear.

"The Crowd of Fear" was the title of O. Oguibe's exhibition in London in 1992 and a collection of his poems and drawings [Oguibe, 1992]. Everything he had experienced during the Civil War had driven out the rosy memories of his childhood. Political realities gave rise to harsh associations (a cage, a torture chamber, a prison, a zone, a menagerie, a scream, a cry, a stench, a chain, shackles, shackles). They evoked the feeling that the world is on the eve of grandiose cataclysms, the collapse of the usual social foundations, religious beliefs, and morals. O. Oguibe's poem "A Song from Exile" (1990) contains the same images: a child crying out; anguish, pain, blood, agony, death, love [Oguibe, 1990]:

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"I love those millions of faces,

smiling and sweaty,

affected persons,

pitted with wrinkles,

tramps...

men, women, all,

forests and rivers...

multiple languages,

kilometers of adverbs,

songs, crying,

words of love,

grass, sky, earth...

Where is your love, Nigeria?"

[Oguibe, 1990, p. 20 (translated by moi. - T. G.)].

The atmosphere of the Apocalypse determined the background of many of O. Oguibe's works. He managed to survive, to gain recognition. He, the only African, was among the organizers and organizers of the "African season" in London in 1995. However, a pessimist in terms of worldview, in the poem " To you, Nigeria!" he appealed to his homeland (mother), realizing that he was not destined to be heard:

"Nigeria,

I sing for you, Nigeria,

I sing your name, Nigeria,

You are me,

You're a mother,

I am your child,

And nothing can break

The umbilical cord that binds us together.

You have millions of suns, forests and mountains.

The land is rich.

The land is poor...

Don't drive me crazy, Motherland,

Don't touch me, don't bend me, don't break me,

How I broke 80 million young people,

Throwing them out on the street, creating traffic jams -

It is a portrait of suffering.

Don't push me, I'm vulnerable as a child,

Don't injure me, don't break my limbs,

Don't hit me on the head,

Don't shoot me...

I am young, Motherland,

I'm innocent.

Don't threaten me again.

Let your hyenas, vultures, lords, leaders,

Your governors, generals, embezzlers, hangmen,

Murderers and pimps doing their own thing,

They avoid me.

I am a child of war.

I have bitterness in my blood.

But you have to pay for training

And on hospital bills,

For electricity and transport, for kerosene and food.

I need a job, a home,

I am strong in mind and wiry,

I have to earn my bread,

I need a roof over my head.

Can you hear me, Motherland,

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When I knock you, through the wall?

You don't need me.

I'm just a poet.

You are my burden, Motherland.

You are my rose: the queen in thorns..."

[Oguibe, 1992, p. 78-81 (translated by moi. - T. G.)].

J. Shonibare, one of the most extravagant artists of the "African diaspora", found himself in the field of staged art. 5 installations created by him – "fantasies" on the theme of the Victorian era (1837-1901) – made him famous. They can be considered as a self-taught guide of a gallant tone and as a kind of "theater of the absurd", the hero of which the artist, an intellectual and aesthete, made a black dandy (dandy, dandy), placing him in the scenery of the Victorian era - in the society of whites ("Salon of a Victorian Philanthropist "(1996), " Diary of a Victorian Dandy "(1998) etc.

I. Shonibare's creative work is a "hybrid", a manifestation of Afro – European identity [Reed, 2005, p.51]. Art critics (to a large extent erroneously) perceived it as an emblem of socio-cultural anthropology [Enwezor, 1997, p. 10]. He himself, conscious of being an African by blood and a European by birth, upbringing and education, did not suffer from a split personality and was ironic about the ideas of the" civilizing role "of the white race and the" barbarism "of black"savages".

His brilliant series "The Battle for Africa" (2003) is dedicated to the events of the Berlin Conference (1884-1885), at which 14 participating countries embarked on the path of dividing the continent. The author placed 14 headless figures in the exquisite scenery of the late 19th century (according to the number of states represented at the conference). By "decapitating "the participants of the "battle for Africa", dressing them in costumes made of African-made fabrics and as if depriving them of their identity, he questioned the feasibility of its solutions without any emphasis on race and ethnicity.

The paradoxical nature of his approach is obvious. The artist forced the viewer to take a fresh look at the problem of "black" and "white", focusing on the fact that there are many different shades in the world besides them. His works are polychrome (multicolored), imbued with a subtle meaning and fully correspond to the traditions of" pure art " – art for the elite. Meanwhile Th. Shonibare has managed to bring together two esthetics that initially contradict each other. One tended to the "high", appealing to reason; the other-to the "low" - to passions, sensations. His works contained two worlds, two souls, two lifestyles and styles of thinking, indicating a successful combination of two opposite principles of perception of the surrounding reality. The artist managed to close Africa and Europe within a single space – in the field of tension created by two poles, expanding the boundaries of the audience, realizing its interest.

The worldview of African artists turned out to be akin to color music: many experimented in the field of color, light, and shadow. "Traps" is the title of a series of works by M. Kure, one of the most original artists on the continent. In her work, you need to look closely, listen to comprehend the incomprehensible, unravel the mystery. An experiment in the field of color led her to extraordinary results. Painting by M. Kure – refined music: semitones, quartertones. Works made in yellow-brown and ochre colors (ink, pencil, watercolor) are almost invisible in black-and-white images (in photographs, reproductions). They can be

5 Installation as an independent form of visual (staged) art emerged comparatively recently. Its origin was initially associated with the development of theater, museum business, the art of decoration, with the need to recreate the situation and atmosphere of former times. Creating installations is aimed at visualizing images and realities of everyday life, including long-lost ones. The artist's task is to recreate them and make them available to the public. Artistic reproduction involves the transformation of a subjective image into a real object (installation, setting, setting), which, in fact, is considered as a work.

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see and appreciate it only in person-in galleries, in exhibition halls, where specially selected lighting and musical accompaniment enhance the effect of impact on the audience.

Synesthesia, a common form of complex influence on the viewer, inherent in symbolists, has led to the emergence of synesthetic works 6. African artists experiment on the" edge " of cultures, styles, genres, trends, demonstrating a commitment to the world of poetry, music, painting, traditions of Africa and Europe, occult sciences and meditative exercises in the bosom of Christianity, Islam, and even of Buddhism.

Africa was and remains their personal space. However, they see their mission in expanding the boundaries of identity and proving that Africa is not a periphery, that it has a history and culture that is part of the overall picture of the world. The desire to make Africa biased by replicating its images, symbols, signs and main cultural components (rhythms, masks, colors, myths) led to an emphasis on the fate of people, ethnic groups, states, their achievements and victories, their tragedies and pain.

African modernists have done much to rehabilitate Africa's past. Their art was based on personal experience, subjective and universal. As if they had unlocked their memories, they called out for sympathy and empathy. Combining two opposite principles of perception of the world (rational and emotional), the artists appealed to man and humanity, contributing to the awakening of individual emotions.

Creativity provided a mechanism for transmitting information. Its forms were different: an objective narrative, an appeal (prayer, hymn, confession, epistle, confession). Africans were eager to share with the audience what they knew and what was going on in their hearts. They opened up a new world for the viewer, immersing him in new knowledge, including about Africa. Each utterance became a kind of objective-social entima. Individual emotions, like overtones, accompanied the tone of social evaluation. Africans decoded what was previously considered sacred (secret knowledge), in the hope that it would become the property of humanity.

Their identity, as well as creativity, as well as human genius, cannot be formalized: it cannot be checked for genotype-for belonging to an African, European or any other regional tradition. To attract the attention of the audience, they could turn any plot from realism to abstraction, and vice versa, and always returned to their roots – to Africa, drawing from it all that can be considered as identity, authenticity and exclusivity.

list of literature

Africa. Encyclopedia, vol. 2. Moscow: Sovetskaya entsiklopediya, 1987.

Goethe I.-V. Inevitability // Goethe I.-V. Lyrica. Yaroslavl: Verkhne-Volzhskoe knizhnoe izdatelstvo, 1982.

Solov'ev V. Jewishness and the Christian Question. Berlin, 1921.

Adams S. Under My Garment There is Nothing But God. Recent Work by Ibrahim El Salahi // African Arts. Vol. XXXIX. № 2. 2006. Summer 2006.

Enwezor O. The Creative Work of Yinka Shonibare // Nka. 1997. Summer/Fall.

Fusion: West African Artists at the Venice Biennale. N.Y.: Munich, 1993.

Ibrida Africa. Hybrid. Cagliari Lazaretto Sant'Elia. 26 Aprile – 30 giugno 2002. Roma, 2002.

Looking Both Ways: Art of the Contemporary African Diaspora. N.Y., 2003.

Mudimbe V.I. The Idea of Africa. L., 1994.

Oguibe O. A Song from Exile. Bayreuth, 1990.

Oguibe O. A Gathering Fear. Bayreuth, 1992.

Reed M.E. Yinka Shonibare. Double Dutch // African Arts. 2005. Summer.

6 The term gezamtkunstwerk ("synthetic work of art"), invented by R. Wagner, is often used in relation to them – a fusion of poetry, music, movement and painting.

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