We are art (2023) Dessin par Michael K Davis

This piece was created for the "playing the race card exhibition" Hastings United kingdom April-August 2024 and has sold privately.

The joy in this work is my personal connection as a black artist to the figure drawn. Although many tribes paint their faces, the Southern Nuba tribe make themselves into art: the aesthetic is not for war or ritual, it is a celebration of their own black beauty. They may change their artistic creation up to twice a day and villages compete for the most decorative and intricate designs.

There is a surreal and beautiful poetry for a black male artist to make an image of an indigenous black tribesman who has made himself into art. This brings about an invisible but intergenerationally powerful thread of connection between us. It closes the gap between history and the present and between east and west. The joy of black brotherhood is something I took for granted, until I lived in France for two years. that nod on the street, that way of calling each other brother, a shared sense of humour, of intrinsic community in a glance, was not available to me in deep rural France. The joy of coming home and seeing black faces smiling back at me was grounding - it rendered a sense of safety and belonging. That is why this face is so significant to me and why I chose to represent the unmasked part of the face in charcoal. For the Nuba, black is thought to be the most beautiful of all colours and is reserved for the best fighters and most elite. In the original photographic reference for this piece, the face is painted in clay. I chose instead to embellish with 22ct gold-leaf. The gold symbolises the wealth in our skin: in his as in mine. In some ancient cultures in Africa, gold was deemed to be a transcendental element. For example, in the Asante civilisation, gold was known as ‘Kra’, which means soul. It represented the life-force. This again speaks to intersectionality and intergenerational connection since my own heritage is from Trinidad, part of the vast legacy of the Asante. Gold is even used in well-being and therapeutic ways now, directly applied to the skin for healing. In this way, the gold is wealth, heritage, beauty and life itself.

Thèmes connexes

AfricanDecorationCultureGold LeafTribal