About this Event
Villa Albertine and the Eaton Hotel is promoting an event based on the life of Jean-Michel Basquiat and it's sources of inspirations.
This will be a documentary about his life directed by Cyril Bérard and produced by Rachel Kahn. A panel discussion will take place at the end of the film.
remains to be one of the most important and influential artists of the modern and contemporary art period.
JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT, L’AFRIQUE AU COEUR (AFRICA AT THE HEART), A film by Cyril Bérard, produced by Rachel Kahn.
"October 1986, Abidjan welcomes Brooklyn-based artist Jean-Michel Basquiat for his first exhibition in Africa. Having dreamed of working on this continent, Basquiat's boldness of his works might be unsettling to some. It is his one and only trip to Africa. He stayed there for ten days, the time to discover the Senufo country, in the north of the Ivory Coast. What link has the world's highest-rated black artist forged with this continent in his short life? How did this New York artist, in a few years, influence the contemporary art world and encourage the emergence of an entire generation of African artists? How did the status of black artists change as a result of his own success? Although his only trip to Africa was short, it was nonetheless decisive for him. It is by going to meet some of the greatest contemporary African artists today that the film offers to answer these questions".
“Going there was a no-brainer for Basquiat. It was a land of inspiration for many artists and it became so for him.”Since its first and only trip, Africa has claimed Basquiat. And a cohort of African painters and visual artists is found in the obsessions of the tortured man and the artist’s questions of identity.
In this film, we trace the African route of Basquiat between Abidjan and Korhogo. While returning to the double African imprint left by the painter:• On his American work• On African painters today, globally who claim a filiation with him.
We will also focus on the black artists who preceded Basquiat. Without ever reaching its notoriety, they somehow paved the way.
Cyril Bérard :
After making two short films as part of his studies, Cyril Bérard graduated in Political Science in 2006. He launched an independent press project, Journal Europa, which brings together young journalists from all over Europe in a monthly newspaper of which he is editor-in-chief until 2010. He made his first documentary film in 2012, "La Duce Vita", about Mussolini's hometown, of which he would make a second part eight years later, "Grano Amaro". Based in Paris, he became a documentary film director for television and webcasting platforms and works on social and cultural topics. In 2020, he co-founded the ABC Penser project, which brings together contemporary intellectuals on a video platform.
Rachel Kahn :
First a journalist at Express, Rachel Kahn began her television career in 1982, along side Jérôme Garcin in the literal show called "Boîte aux lettres" on FR3.
She made over 40 .
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
1201 K Street NW, Washington, DC 20005, United States
USD 0.00