In the Angolan capital of Luanda, a major art facility and residence program has opened.
The Nesr Art Foundation, a philanthropic venture founded by the Webcor Group's family, aims to combat the underrepresentation of African art.
With the inauguration of the Nesr Art Foundation, a philanthropic business dedicated to Angolan art, Angola has become the latest African country to announce the opening of a major new art institution for local artists.
Wissam Nesr and his wife, Hiba Nesr, members of the Lebanese-Belgian family behind the African multi-national Webcor Group, sponsor the foundation in Luanda, Angola's capital. It is one of Angola's largest firms, specializing in the import and distribution of food products.
Wissam Nesr, the CEO of Webcor, tells The Art Newspaper, "The foundation intends to contribute an important, internationally facing area to the contemporary art environment in Angola."
The foundation will begin with a residency program, with Angolan artists Pamina Sebastio and Osvaldo Ferreira serving as the inaugural participants.
© The Nesr Foundation/ Juntos pela mesma causa (2021) by Osvaldo Ferreira's
With a population of about 33 million people, Angola is the third-largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. Luanda is home to more than a third of the country's population, making it the world's most populous Portuguese-speaking capital city outside of Brazil. Nelo Teixeira, Francisco Vidal, Délio Jasse, Binelde Hyrcan, and António Ole are among the country's many internationally renowned artists. In 2013, Angola was the first country to present a pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
However, the country's infrastructure for artists is still lacking. The Sindika Dokolo Foundation, created by the late Sindika Dokolo and his wife Isabel dos Santos, daughter of Angola's longstanding former president and formerly considered Africa's richest woman, worth an estimated $3.5 billion, has generated news in the art world. However, in 2020, an Angolan court found that much of Dos Santos' fortune was obtained at the expense of the Angolan state through embezzlement, money laundering, and corruption. Historically, Angola has struggled to cultivate national artists, with many fleeing the country for better possibilities elsewhere. The dissolution of the Sindika Dokolo Foundation has widened the chasm even further.
Other private and philanthropic artistic ventures have flourished elsewhere on the continent, with fellow Lebanese businessman Marwan Zakhem gaining increasing international acclaim for his work with Ghanaian artists in Accra at Gallery 1957, and Adenrele Sonariwo's Rele Gallery in Lagos, Nigeria, recently opening a space in Los Angeles after launching the careers of Nigerian artists at home. Nesr aspires to create a similar result with Angolan artists.
© Nesr Art Foundation/artist Pamina Sebastiao
© The Nesr Foundation/Drawings from the Cadernos de colagens Series (2021) by Pamina Sebastiao
"Aside from galleries, there are few institutions and very few venues dealing with current practices and providing facilities and possibilities to artists," adds Nesr. "African art, particularly Angolan art, is underrepresented around the world. However, a new generation of modern African artists is gaining international recognition, with some Angolan artists playing key roles in this change."
The residency program will provide studio and living space for eight artists each year, who will create in pairs across four three-month stints. Before seeing their work shown at the foundation, artists receive a fully furnished studio and living space, as well as a monthly stipend and production funding. Nesr's own collection of Angolan and African art will also be on show in the area.
"The residency program is open to all Angolan emerging artists," the foundation states in a statement. "Selection is made by a committee of local and international arts professionals following an open call for applications." "Any new artist based in Angola—Angolan or not—is eligible to apply." Artists who have not had the opportunity to participate in international exhibits or get institutional assistance will be given priority in the selection process."
©Nesr Art Foundation/ Wissaam and Hiba Nesr
The Nesr Foundation is directed by an artistic committee that includes Fernanda Brenner, the creator and creative director of Pivo art center in Sao Paulo, as well as Angolan curator Paula Nascimento. Azu Nwagbogu, the founder of the African Artists' Foundation and the Lagos Photo Festival, and Tandazani Dhlakama, assistant curator at Zeitz MOCAA in Cape Town.
Wissam's father, Ali Nehme Nesr, created the Webcor organization in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in the 1970s, and it is currently active in Congo and Mozambique. Angola currently accounts for the majority of its African revenues. The company, which is located in Switzerland, has a revenue of more than $1 billion.
Selena Mattei