On Thursday, September 27th, philanthropist and art collector Roni Willett and visual artist Walid Layadi-Marfouk hosted the closing reception for Second Generations, a non-profit art show at Africa House, a pop-up members club that coincided with the 2018 UN General Assembly week, dedicated exclusively to high-level officials from over 27 African delegations. From September 24th to 27th, heads of state, state ministers, ambassadors and their top aides convened in a Beaux-Arts mansion with thought leaders, entrepreneurs, artists and designers who all share mutual connections to Africa.
Notable guests to Africa House and Second Generations included President of Benin Patrice Talon, Gabon Ambassador to the United States Michael Mouussa-Adamo, Mozambique Ambassador to the United States Carlos dos Santos, Naomi Campbell, Dayo Okeniyi, Young Paris, Renée Willett, Richard Phillips, Isaac Ferry, John Targon, Alexandre Assouline, Pietro Quaglia, Nachson Mimran,Omar Hernandez, Tyler Tananbaum, Eve Therond and Julio Mario Santo Domingo III.
Second Generations featured the work of 15 artists connected to more than a dozen countries of the Global African Diaspora, including Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kehinde Wiley. The exhibition explored the power, heft and beauty of a multiplicity of identities across the African continent and its diasporas – transgressing and transcending borders.
Second Generations was a non-profit show. The curators took no commission, and all proceeds go straight to the artists. The artists were also encouraged to make a donation to arts & education programs in Morocco and South Africa.
ABOUT THE CURATORS:
RONI WILLETT is a philanthropist, art historian, contemporary art collector and patron of the arts. Her art collection is a celebration of the diversity of identities and culturally significant visual representations it includes.
WALID LAYADI-MARFOUK is a visual artist and curator whose practice centers on the representations of mischaracterized or unrepresented identities. His visual work attempts to re-contextualize the figures he portrays in their culture, history, and heritage. His curation is aimed towards the autochthonous viewer, as opposed to a Western audience.
NIAMA SAFIA SANDY is a cultural anthropologist, curator, and essayist. Her work delves into the human story – through the critical lenses of culture, migration, race and ritual, she aims to tell stories we know in ways we have not yet thought to tell them. Her practice examines the ways histories, economics, and other social forces and constructs have shaped our modern realities.
