Since its debut in September 2010 as partner of the London Design Festival, the three year African & African- Caribbean Design Diaspora programme (www.aacdd.org) organised by the London-based British European Design Group (www.bedg.org) has brought together and exhibited more artists and designers of African and African- Caribbean origin from more countries and more creative disciplines than any other previous single initiative of this kind.
The title of this year’s AACDD Bargehouse Festival ‘Untold Gold’ places the outstandingly beautiful and original work of more than 150 artists and designers from the UK, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean within the unique backdrop and raw space of Bargehouse, London. All five floors of the listed Bargehouse building, opposite the Oxo Tower on the Southbank – the capital’s new hub for exciting multicultural and multinational art and performance activities – will be devoted to showcasing exceptional works from creatives of African and African-Caribbean descent. Disciplines represented will include fine art, sculpture, design, graphic design, photography, multimedia and music, architecture, furniture, lighting, textiles, home furnishings, ceramics, fashion and fashion accessories, jewellery and beauty, as well as live music and other performances. In addition, a simultaneous virtual exhibition will showcase the work of artists and designers whose pieces cannot easily be transported from their countries of origin. The 2012 AACDD Bargehouse Festival ‘Untold Gold’ will also include the special feature exhibition ‘A life apart?‘ showing the similarities of tools and objects of daily use in traditional societies in rural Africa and the Western World in the past.
The superbly crafted artefacts of daily use by traditional African artisans pay homage to their magnificent manual skills and indigenous creativity, which have yet to be recognised as important cultural heritage by the Western world.
The AACDD project will create its own legacy, by highlighting the talents of new and emerging artists and designers, many of whom have not had the opportunity to showcase their works before.
London 15 08 2012
Bargehouse
Oxo Tower Wharf Bargehouse Street South Bank London SE1 9PH
September 19 – 30 admission free
www.aacdd.org