NAME DROP FOR THE AFRICAN INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION | WORKSHOP WITH FRANCISCO VIDAL

Name drop for the African Industrial Revolution | Workshop with Francisco Vidal | from: MAAT

Name drop for the African Industrial Revolution

Workshop participants were invited to take part in a work in progress by artist Francisco Vidal entitled Name drop for the African Industrial Revolution. The work consists of a performance in which Vidal draws portraits of the participants in an analogy to The Artist is Present, a work Marina Abramović showed at MoMA, New York, in 2010. The performance came about in 2014, when Francisco Vidal was teaching in Luanda and, because of the lack of drawing paper, was forced to draw portraits on Xerox paper. The possibility of making copies rapidly combined with the academic notebook format opened new directions for the portrait as a useful tool for just social change.

In a second moment of the workshop, Vidal challenged the participants to discover the “backstage” of MAKA Lisboa performance, that reflects his recent line of work. Together they will reflect, design and build a reinterpretation of the performance open to the public.

Performace MAKA Lisbon | 22/10/2020

Maka in Kimbundu means conversation, an exchange of ideas and arguments: an almost discussion. Initially, the acronym MAKA stood for Lisbon Museum of African Art and Kulture. However, as museums are often deposits of spoils of war, looting and other forms of oppression, the concept evolved to Momento de Arte e Kultura Africana de Lisboa.

Thus, MAKA Lisboa is a constructive conversation about the racially motivated murder of actor Bruno Candé, in order to understand his work and his presence, and how his death is a huge loss for everyone. Humanity has lost. Racism exists and we cannot continue to discuss whether this was a racist act. MAKA Lisboa is Afro-futuristic and works in the territory of positive construction. Think about how you can build after this tragedy and raise and give visibility to the legacy of this actor.
The first lesson that an African father in the diaspora teaches his son is: "you will not be a martyr." This installation is then dedicated to Bruno Candé and his 3 children.

MAKA Lisboa is a project by Francisco Vidal and Namalimba Coelho, whose performance in the context of the Imminent Festival and Underdogs Gallery is now replicated at maat, in an adapted version.

find the article: https://www.maat.pt/en/event/workshop-francisco-vidal

the artist’s instagram