- Title: Larger-than-life African warriors take over historic London courtyard
- Date: 4th October 2016
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (OCTOBER 4, 2016) (REUTERS) SCULPTURE ENTITLED 'BLACK AND BLUE: THE INVISIBLE MAN AND THE MASQUE OF BLACKNESS 2016' AT SOMERSET HOUSE VARIOUS OF THE 40 BLACK SCULPTURES IN THE COURTYARD OF SOMERSET HOUSE AFRICAN FACE MASK OF ONE OF THE SCULPTURES VARIOUS OF THE SCULPTURES VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT THE SCULPTURES PEOPLE POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FOUNDER OF 1:54 CONTEMPORARY AFRICAN ART FAIR, TOURIA EL GLAOUI, SAYING: "Actually it was about celebrating the beauty of blackness at the time. So it's obviously it might not be the best thing we could do today but the idea of Zac Ove was definitely to re-celebrate this blackness in the courtyard of Somerset House." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE LOOKING AT THE SCULPTURES (SOUNDBITE) (English) ART LOVER, SALLY CAPEL, SAYING: "I think it's great. I like historical connections, yes. It would look fantastic. They could dress those up couldn't they really and make it look like a masked ball if they wanted to with the faces like that." VARIOUS OF THE STATUES
- Embargoed: 19th October 2016 14:24
- Keywords: Somerset House 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair Zac Ove
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UK
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA00152LBBKP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Forty 2-metre-high black graphite statues took over the fountain court of London's historic Somerset House on Tuesday (October 4) as part of an installation for the 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair.
Artist Zak Ove's "Black and Blue: The Invisible Man and the Masque of Blackness" installation occupies the whole courtyard and references "the Masque of Blackness", a masked play/extravaganza enacted by Anne of Denmark and her court ladies in the courtyard of Somerset House in 1605.
"Actually it was about celebrating the beauty of blackness at the time. So obviously it might not be the best thing we could do today but the idea of Zac Ove was definitely to re-celebrate this blackness in the courtyard of Somerset House," said Touria El Glaoui, founder of 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair.
"I think it's great. I like historical connections, yes. It would look fantastic. They could dress those up could they really and make it look like a masked ball if they wanted to with the faces like that," said Sally Capel, an art lover in the courtyard.
The work was created for the fair, which will also feature an exhibition of late Malian photographer Malick Sidibe's work.
The 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair runs October 6-9. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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