A New Age for African Artists

In the NYTimes:

“Game Room” by the Beninese artist Meschac Gaba, Stefan Rousseau/Press Association

“The growth of democracy in Africa in the ‘90s led to the growth of many, many, many independent artistic institutions and artist production houses,” said Mr. Wainaina, “some to do with technology but also increased freedoms for people to imagine things for themselves.”

From the anti-colonialism movement to the decades after independence, successive waves of African art, whether writers like Chinua Achebe and Ngugi wa Thiong’o or musicians like Fela Kuti and Youssou N’Dour, have reached well beyond the continent’s shores.

But the growth of democratic expectations, the decline of dictatorships, the expansion of African economies and the explosion of the Internet and other technologies has created new space for African artists to thrive.

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