Cities of the World presents the work of the South African artist Titus Matiyane (1964). He creates huge panorama drawings of cities and landscapes al over the world from a bird’s-eye view. The colourful drawings, which vary in size from 6 to 46 by 1.5 metres, overwhelm viewers and take them on an extended journey through an urban landscape, which Matiyane depicts with a great sense of technique and visionary craftsmanship.
A report by Annemieke de Kler.
My visit to Mali
Cities of the World presents the work of the South African artist Titus Matiyane (1964). He creates huge panorama drawings of cities and landscapes al over the world from a bird’s-eye view. The colourful drawings, which vary in size from 6 to 46 by 1.5 metres, overwhelm viewers and take them on an extended journey through an urban landscape, which Matiyane depicts with a great sense of technique and visionary craftsmanship.
An international tour brought the exhibition Titus Matiyane. Cities of the world from TU Delft (during African Perspectives) to Berlin and from Berlin to Bamako and from there the panoramas finally will go back to Johannesburg. The official opening of Cities of the World at the National Museum of Mali was on May 27, 2008. Titus Matiyane and I visited Bamako for the opening.
Samuel Sidibé, the director of the museum, showed the exhibition from May 27-July 20, 2008. The opening was attended by around 120 guests, among them the ambassador of China and representatives of the Netherlands Embassy and the ministry of Culture in Mali. Sidibé explained that for him this was a wonderful opportunity to bring the exhibition from an African artist on show in another African country before returning to South Africa. By making this possible a wider audience in Bamako and Mali could enjoy the panorama drawings of Matiyane and see these cities and the world through his eyes. There were some curators and national TV at the opening. Sidibé told me that journalists don’t often come to an opening as usually you have to pay them for writing about a show.
For me as the curator of the exhibition it was interesting to see that this exhibition was beautifully in the hall for temporary display. It was remarkable that everybody at that opening from the Chinese ambassador (who discussed with Matiyane details of the Hong Kong panorama) to the complete staff of the museum loved this exhibition and were in a lively debate about the drawings of London, New York, The Netherlands and Durban, Pretoria and a new one of Tanzania that Matiyane brought with him as a surprise.
The exhibition in Mali was supported by the Prince Claus Fund and TU Delft.
Annemieke de Kler, ArchiAfrika board member.
www.archiafrika.org
