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Writer's pictureIvan Muguya

Artistic reinterpretation of the transatlantic slave trade's history.


The World Reimagined program, which culminates in a sculpture trail across the UK on August 13th, use art to shed light on the transatlantic slave trade and encourages people "to face our shared history with honesty, empathy, and grace."

The World Reimagined is a new initiative that seeks to correct misconceptions about "the transatlantic traffic in enslaved Africans, and its impact on all of us." Dennis Marcus and actor-singer Michelle Gayle founded the campaign, which uses art to spread its message. They have placed more than a hundred globes across the country, each bearing the thoughts of artists and creatives on the slave trade and their past, present, and future ties to Britain.

The objective is to establish a foundation of information about the British slave trade in the Atlantic. Although this historical event is part of the national school curriculum and is intertwined with the family history of many Black Britons, there are no set criteria on what is taught, thus there can be enormous variation from school to school. This has led to a situation where the British public as a whole does not agree on what transpired or the part that Britain played.

Incorporating the fields of art, education, community action, and outreach, "The World Reimagined" is disseminating information, Deutsche Welle has been an avid art collector for decades. In recent years, contemporary works from Africa have been added to that collection.

Presented as part of a collection preview titled "Past's Tomorrow/Future" Today's within the context of the 2022 Global Media Forum, the paintings are a part of a series of modern works by five West African artists on display at DW's broadcast studios in Bonn. DW's collection of art has grown to include modern pieces from Africa as recently as 2016.

These creatives think on a global scale. Soly Cisse lives in both his hometown of Dakar and the French capital of Paris, where he studied fine art. Senegalese-French art scholar Serigne Mbaye Camara now instructs students in Dakar. Photographer Akinbode Akinbiyi was born in Oxford, spent his childhood in both England and Lagos, and had his education at Ibadan, Nigeria, Lancaster, United Kingdom, and Heidelberg, Germany.

There is a long history of cultural interchange between Africa and Europe; for example, art festivals were held in Lagos and Algiers in the 1960s, where works by contemporary African artists were presented, often side-by-side with pieces from Europe.

That's not something you'd often hear about from people living in the past few decades. Stercken hopes to bring to light the global connections that have been developing since the 1960s and '50s. the history, context, and context of the slave trade between Africa and the Caribbean, with a focus on the role of British slave traders. A wide range of ambassadors are discussing the diaspora caused by the transatlantic slave trade and the future of humanity. Among them are the likes of social entrepreneur Lee Lawrence, TV host and producer Floella Benjamin, newscaster Gillian Joseph, and actor Joseph Marcell.

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