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October-December 2016: Though the Eyes of Africa

Shaped like rays of sunshine, Cyrus Kabiru’s
metallic eyeglasses, made with found objects,
draws us into ‘Making Africa’ like a magnet. The display of several glasses perched at various heights and directed at a photo of Kabiru’s main character is a metaphor for the variousperspectives of viewing the continent. According to Amelie Klein, the Vienna-born curator of the Vitra Design Museum, “Africa needs to be seen in another light. Western media portrays Africa in standardized clichés: poverty, corrupt heads of state, and men that can dance”. She laughs, “ I ’ve seen many African men who have no feeling for rhythm, and they certainly can’t dance”.

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