An anonymous collective claims a show held at Maca Art Center, featuring work of the Beijing-based artist Dan Er, conflated the cultures of Xinjiang’s 47 ethnic groups and contained inaccurate generalisations
Category Archives: Exhibitions
The exhibition, Dialogues, pairs 20th and 21st century art by the likes of Picasso, Adam Pendleton and David Hammons with the objects that inspired it
Dates: September 1 – October 15, 2025
Gallery: The 34Gallery
Organized by: The 34 Gallery in partnership with SimukaAfrica.org (SAYA)
Framework: Part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal SDG 3.4 Initiative (Mental Health & Wellbeing), in collaboration with UNV.org
Silence as a Language
Trauma leaves many traces, but not always in the form of visible pain. More often it lingers as silence: a frozen state of emotional detachment, an absence that resists articulation. The September group exhibition Stillness, presented by 34 Gallery in partnership with SimukaAfrica.org (SAYA), invites artists across continents to interpret this complex aftermath.
Founded in 2006, SimukaAfrica.org is a Zimbabwe-based charitable organization that supports at-risk youth, families, and survivors of child marriage through education, vocational training, medical outreach, food provision, and psychosocial care. Stillness emerges from this humanitarian framework as part of SAYA’s SDG 3.4 Initiative, aligning with the United Nations’ Agenda 2030. Here, contemporary art becomes not only a site of aesthetic inquiry but also a form of public health advocacy.
Participating Artists
The exhibition gathers a diverse roster of participating artists whose works span visual art, photography, digital media, and poetry. Together, they render the contours of stillness in its many forms:
Mary Stone Art – Beside the Absence
A meditation on vacancy, where emptiness itself becomes presence.
Madland – Labyrinth of Self
An inner maze reflecting the disorientation of trauma.
thedumbbandshee – Stillness II
A frozen corridor that suspends both time and body.
Mitochondralorian – Of Echo and Absence
The Room Where Gravity Forgot Me Works that transform silence into echo and weightlessness.
The Last Bard – Ghosts of Echoes / The Waiting Room
Poetic explorations of language as a faltering witness.
Lingfei Shen – Dissolving Together
Figures that fade into one another, caught between connection and loss.
Kira Risugawa – Quietude in the Winter Desolation
A portrait of solitude against a barren winter backdrop.
Oti Tsone – Serene
A seascape where calmness conceals isolation.
Hiroshi Kawazumi – One Quiet Evening On The Hill
Photography capturing dusk as a breath of quietude.
liapsart – Invictus
A surreal landscape of masked figures and avian flight.
Margaret Furr – Emotions
Texts confronting turbulence and fleeting calm.
Usha M Reddy – Echoes Between the Steps
A solitary figure suspended within an architectural void.
Doğan Özdemir – Bipolar
Portraiture fractured into states of discord and duality.
FotoGraafHanneke – The Owl Kept My Silence
A quiet dialogue between human and owl, heavy with unspoken witness.
Brooke Moran – Portrait of Child Self Painted on Collage of Old Suicide Notes
A haunting self-portrait inscribed within fragments of memory.
Shelley Lafferty – Between the Shadows
Shadows and forms overlapping in muted light.
Renata Kaman – All that remains
A body reclined within the earth, fragile yet enduring.
Muriel Lherm – Veins of Quiet
Elaborate floral motifs entwined with tears, balancing beauty and rupture.
Celestino Espinoza López – Dissociative Identity
A vivid portrait where multiple faces collide, reflecting the fractured tension of dissociative identity.
Deborah Kimble – Alone
Layered folds of canvas spiral inward, evoking the wound and quiet gaze of isolation.
Beyond Aesthetics
Stillness is less about artistic style than about recognition. By situating creative practice within SimukaAfrica’s humanitarian mission, the exhibition frames art as a therapeutic gesture and a vehicle for advocacy. It reminds us that survivors’ silence is not absence but presence—an embodied condition deserving of attention, dignity, and care.
The exhibition also underscores the role of virtual platforms in contemporary art. Far from diminishing its relevance, the digital format extends reach, connecting artists and audiences who might otherwise remain excluded from institutional spaces or mental health discourse.
Conclusion
Through Stillness, 34 Gallery and SimukaAfrica.org articulate an ambitious synthesis of art, health, and advocacy. Positioned within the UN’s SDG 3.4 framework, the exhibition demonstrates how contemporary art can intervene in urgent social realities while honoring the quiet resilience of those who live with trauma.
Exhibition Access: 34gallery.org/open-calls
SimukaAfrica.org: https://simukaafrica.org/
Instagram: @simukaafricaofficial
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From the Modernist art movement in Nigeria to Jennie Baptiste’s seminal works and stories of the Windrush generation in Cambridge
Neue Galerie in New York presents the US's first museum show dedicated to the unassuming German Expressionist
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FOLLOW.ART, a new space created exclusively for artists and curators, today unveils the Nexus Card, a digital portfolio and networking tool designed to transform how creatives present their work and build sustainable careers.
The Nexus Card, powered by FOLLOW.ART, is designed to solve some of the most pressing challenges faced by today’s artists and curators. Unlike traditional social platforms, it ensures professional visibility without algorithms, with every profile equally discoverable and not tied to follower counts or engagement metrics. It functions as both a mobile-ready portfolio and a networking tool, easily shared online or in person, offering a streamlined alternative to maintaining separate websites and business cards.
At the same time, its Support My Practice feature introduces micro-patronage, enabling audiences to contribute directly to an artist’s ongoing work, covering time, research, or materials, beyond the traditional “sale-or-nothing” model. Finally, with hybrid discoverability built in, every card can be scanned, saved to a phone wallet, and revisited later, ensuring that meaningful connections remain active and actionable long after first contact.
FOLLOW.ART’s mission is to equip the next generation of cultural workers and creatives with tools that foster equal visibility, authentic connections, and financial resilience.
As part of its first UK activation, FOLLOW.ART announces a new collaboration with the Visual Artists Association (VAA). The Nexus Card will be integrated into two upcoming events: OpenSpaces 2025 (11 Oct – 9 Nov 2025) and the Visual Art Open Prize (VAO) 2025 (9–12 Oct 2025, London). Through this partnership, VAA artists will receive free Pro Card access, allowing them to showcase their portfolios and receive direct audience support during and beyond the events.
“Visual Art Open is proud to partner with FOLLOW.ART – a platform redefining how artists connect with audiences in the digital age. This collaboration enhances our mission to support emerging artists by offering greater visibility, new tools for engagement, and broader access to the global art community.” –Shirley-Ann O’Neill, Director, Visual Artists Association
This UK debut highlights FOLLOW.ART’s growing presence in key art capitals and its ambition to provide tools that empower artists and curators globally.
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Sponsored content. The World Art News (WAN) is not liable for the content of this publication. All statements and views expressed herein are opinions only. Act at your own risk. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission. © The World Art News
The post FOLLOW.ART introduces the Nexus Card: A new digital portfolio tool, in a UK debut collaboration with the Visual Artists Association (VAA) appeared first on World Art News.