The Arts =

StephenWilliamS

Why Africa? ... The art taking Europe by storm

Jean Pigozzi is a man with a passion. He has been collecting contemporary African art for nearly two decades and has built the world’s most important collection of modern African art. Stephen Williams went to Turin in Italy to meet him and view the “Why Africa?” exhibition.

StephenWilliamS

Jean Pigozzi has a grand vision – to eventually build a museum in the West, whether in Europe or America, dedicated to African art. “I want to be an ambassador for as much of Africa as I can,” he says. “It’s clear to me that Africa has much to offer the West, there is much that Africa can teach the West.” Among the reasons for this vision is his observation that not enough room is afforded to African art in big museums in the West. “What’s absolutely amazing is that neither the Museum of Modern Art nor the Metropolitan Museum in New York; or the Los Angeles County Museum, the Smithsonian in Washington DC, the Pompidou in Paris , the Tate Gallery in London – none of them have a contemporary African art department

StephenWilliamS

86n NEW AFRICAN February 2008