Africa’s Energy Crisis Visualised: Lumières d’Afrique
The Lumières d’Afrique exhibition – showing at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg, South Africa, until 9th April – offers a glimpse into how artists across the continent view the subject of “energy” in their diverse contexts.
The energy crisis continues to haunt Africa. There is potential to improve such a situation, but the mismanagement of resources poses an obstacle to the development of the continent. (See Unmask Africa’s assessment of the energy sector in Africa here). These are some of the issues that African artists have joined forces to creatively illuminate.
In a nutshell, Africa is collectively showcasing her varying perspectives on the energy crisis. This is done by artists from the continent’s 54 countries – each presenting his/her reality. This group exhibition features a wide variety of artworks including paintings, photography, video installations, textile, and sculptural pieces.
Running under the theme ‘The Lights of Africa’ (translated “Lumières d’Afrique” in French), the exhibition is a display of contemporary, African art, which was created by the African Artists for Development (AAD) group. The exhibition was first unveiled in Paris at the Théâtre National de Chaillot and has been traveling the world ever since, visiting Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Ethiopia, Switzerland, Germany, Morocco, and, currently, South Africa.
Some of the artworks at the Lumières d’Afrique exhibition are quite peculiar, but they ignite engagement and critical understanding of the artists’ thought processes. Every artwork is accompanied by a brief video of the artist explaining the background to his/her piece.
Self-taught artist and craftsman Noah Mdluli – who is representing Eswatini (formerly known as Swaziland) – portrays the essentiality of two elements: water and electricity. These two elements are portrayed through a stone sculpture in the form of a water tap. Instead of having water pour out of the tap, a light bulb glows at the tap’s output.
“Everyone needs two things everywhere . . . These things are the strongest things, [which are] water and electricity,” says Mdluli. Through this piece, Mdluli interrogates the overarching crisis panging the continent.
The existing disparity of access to these resources is quite appalling. According to the International Energy Agency’s (IAE) African Energy Outlook report 2019, “today some 600 million people (out of an estimated 1,2 billion) do not have access to electricity.”
A crucial point of view put forth by Mozambican Goncalo Mabunda succinctly captures the root of the crisis: “Africa can have a big future. If our leaders can use our resources in a good way to develop our continent.”
The IAE adds that, “the momentum behind today’s policy and investment plans is not yet enough to meet the energy needs of Africa’s population in full.”
With artists approaching the theme of ‘light’ as directly linked to energy, access to electricity and sustainable power sources, the works essentially sit directly in dialogue with the issues surrounding Africa’s development in the 21st century.
The exhibition is the first in Africa’s art history to have 54 artists interrogating a collective problem. It points to the continent’s unearthed potential. Hopeful as it looks, happenings around the continent present a forevermore persistent reality – smelling the rain but never actually seeing the drops touch the earth.
Editing by Magnificent Mndebele & Gaby Ndongo.
