Africa 05: February 10-October 31, 2005 venues throughout London.

February 2005 ushered in the beginning of "Africa 05," a year-long cultural exchange between the United Kingdom and Africa. Visual arts institutions, concert halls, and cinemas offered viewers a forum for debate and discourse on African culture and life. The November 18, 2004, press release described it as "a series of major cultural events taking place in London that celebrates contemporary and past cultures from across the continent and the diaspora." Also in the press release, Gus Casely-Hayford, "Africa 05" Program Director, said that he hoped the events would "challenge many people's preconceptions about Africa and place many African artists firmly within the UK and international arts scene."

Certainly 2005 was the "year of Africa" in the United Kingdom. Only one month after the launch of "Africa 05," Tony Blair and Gordon Brown's Commission for Africa published its report on how developed nations can help many African countries out their crippling states of poverty. The twentieth anniversary of the ground-breaking Live Aid concert was marked with the Live 8 Concert, which appears to have had overwhelming success in promoting awareness about African debt relief in the form of an enormous Make Poverty History campaign. Canceling the debt of the poorest African nations was one of the most important debates to emerge from the G8 summit in Scotland headed by EU president Tony Blain In response to the political climate in early 2005, Casely-Hayford noted: "Just as there are sustainable changes being brokered politically, organizers of 'Africa 05' want to create changes that will draw African culture into the mainstream where it belongs, and to deliver the infrastructure to make those changes permanent."

While much has changed politically, in both the United Kingdom and continental Africa, since "Africa 95"--the inaugural celebration of the arts of Africa in the UK--much has also remained the same. Ten years ago, the "artist-led series of events" featured "exhibitions and programs divided into the visual arts, cinema, music, the performing arts, and literature. All were supplemented by conferences, workshops, and residencies to maximize the goal of promoting exchange and collaboration between artists and audiences in Africa and the UK," as Doran Ross noted in his "First Word" for the Summer 1996 issue of African Arts. "Africa 95" was conceived as complement to the blockbuster exhibition "Africa: The Art of a Continent" at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, which failed to include contemporary art in its survey of the continent, while "Africa 05" began with the "Africa Remix: Contemporary Art of a Continent" exhibition at the Hayward Gallery. Both "95" and "05" purported to be celebrations of Africa in the UK as a whole but were staged almost entirely in London.

"In and Out of Africa: Art and Identities" was a conference held at the British Museum in conjunction with the opening events of "Africa 05." At the beginning of the conference, Chris Spring, curator of the African galleries at the Museum, offered this explanation for the conception of the year-long celebration: "When Gus Casely-Hayford and I began to dream about 'Africa 05' back in 2001, it was with a view to seeing how far we had come since the last big festival of African arts and cultures in the UK, 'Africa 95." A conference seemed to us the best way to assess this progress." In attendance at the conference were artists from "Africa 95," workshop and artist-in-residency participants, and several individuals included in the "Africa Remix" exhibition including curator Simon Njami.

The discussion between the artist participants and academic panelists focused primarily on identity and authenticity. Simon Njami, in a talk titled "In and Out of Africa: Art and Identities" (February 12, 2005), reminded the audience of the Hegelian notion that "Africa has no history," offering "Africa Remix" as a response. He followed this statement with the question that seemed to be the theme of the conference, "What kind of African are you?" A number of the artists included in his exhibition of contemporary African art are living and working in non-African locations and thus the question of representation was called into play. From the beginning of the conference and throughout "Africa 05," the topic of African artists living and working in diaspora was consistently revisited.

In stark comparison with the two dozen exhibitions in "Africa 95," the "Africa 05" website listed a multitude of venues. There were so many events associated with Africa in London in 2005 that there was simply no way to take them all in. However, it was the "Africa Remix" exhibition that served as the springboard for the year-long celebration. The thematically organized group show was curated by Njami, editor of the Paris-based journal Revue Noir. Questions about the inclusion of artists living in diaspora again surfaced, as many of the artists no longer reside on the continent. However, the curator's structuring of the exhibition in thematic sections allowed for a coherent review of work about (and in reaction to) Africa rather than presenting an idea of some coherent "Africanness." Artists such as El Anatsui, Dilomprizulike, and Romuald Hazoume commented on consumption in their use of transformed objects; Zwelethu Mthethwa and David Goldblatt looked at labor and production through photography; video/installations by Theo Eshetu, Loulou Cherinet, and Zineb Sedira challenged the exhibition viewer to experience a more intimate moment of contact; while Jane Alexander, Yinka Shonibare, and Ingrid Mwangi questioned the very idea of "Africanness" in their installations. While the exhibition as a whole challenged the viewer and reminded the public that Africa is an active participant in the world of contemporary art, the question remains: When will the need for these all-inclusive exhibitions of the "art of a continent" cease to be necessary?

The British Museum offered "Views from Africa," which included "Ground Force at the British Museum." "Ground Force" is a television gardening show akin to American television's "Extreme Home Makeover." The team installed an awkward grouping of plants and sculpture on the Museum forecourt. Included were sculptures by El Anatsui, Sokari Douglas Camp, and Rachid Koraichi, among others. Though the artist's work was interesting, the garden was confusing at best and looked as if it were a last-minute addition.

However, the Museum did succeed with the Tree of Life, which was commissioned by the British Museum and produced by artists Kester, Hilaria Nhatugueja, Fiel dos Santos, and Adelino Serafim Mate as part of the Transforming Arms into Tools project. The project encourages Mozambicans to exchange their remaining weapons from the country's sixteen-year-long civil war for agricultural and domestic tools. Artists in the Nucleo de Arte collective in Maputo, some of whom were child soldiers in the war, create sculptures from the decommissioned weapons. The Tree was displayed in the Great Court for the duration of "Africa 05," while the Throne was on view in the Sainsbury African Gallery of the Museum. One of members of the collective, Kester, created the Throne of Weapons, which has been touring museums and schools the United Kingdom for the last year. Both the Tree and the Throne are now part of the British Museum's permanent collection.

The Victoria and Albert Museum hosted an "Africa Fashion in Motion: Africa" evening with a show by contemporary African and African Diaspora designers Xuly Bet, Joel Andriano-mearisoa, and Hassan Hajjaj. The event also offered performance art by Dilomprizulike, political debates, music, food, and an African bazaar, all to "celebrate the creativity of African culture." The October Gallery presented a series of solo exhibitions by artists including El Anatsui, Rachid Koraichi, and Romuald Hazoum6. The Whitechapel Gallery's "Back to Black: Art Cinema and the Racial Imaginary" focused on black artists working in America, Britain, and Jamaica in the 1960s-70s. The Brunei Gallery at SOAS staged "Transitions: Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe 1960-2004." Additionally, institutions such as The Camden Arts Centre, Bankside Gallery, Crafts Council, Gasworks, Horniman Museum, and The Photographers Gallery all offered exhibitions and programming that focused on African art and life.

Again, the sheer volume of "Africa 05" and its related events is too great to discuss in a short review of the year-long celebration. Unfortunately, the admirable goal of the organizers to challenge preconceptions and place Africa within an international scene fell short as a result of the inundation of Africa-related programming. Instead of celebrating African art and culture, "Africa 05" seemed to force-feed an idea of the continent to the weary public. After a year of nonstop exposure to all things African, much has reamed to business as usual. Will galleries and museums now include a greater number of artists of African descent in their exhibitions and collections? It is still too soon to know. However, I certainly hope, as did the coordinators of "Africa 05," that there will be no need for such a celebration in 2015. Maybe the change will come more quickly for China; the capital is now celebrating "China in London 2006," and the city is focused on the "Year of the Dog."