When an artist sponsored by the KAAD exhibits at the Art Biennale in Venice, it is a source of joy and pride for the sponsor. After all, alongside the Documenta in Kassel, it is considered the most important art exhibition in the world. However, the fact that two KAAD-sponsored artists exhibited in the pavilions of their respective countries at the 58th Biennale is quite extraordinary. Both artists are women from Africa who were sponsored by the KAAD for a Master's programme.
Thus Selasi Awusi Sosu represented her home country Ghana with a glass art installation, while Georgina Maxim represented Zimbabwe with her textile art. Zimbabwe was represented with a pavilion for the fifth time.
The two women embodied the motto of the 58th international art exhibition "May you live in interesting times" not only with their art, but also with their biographies:
Georgina Maxim from Zimbabwe completed her Master's degree in African Verbal and Visual Arts at the University of Bayreuth with a KAAD scholarship. Born in Harare in 1980, she completed several diplomas in Applied Art, Design, Creative Art and Education at the Chinhoyi University of Technology in Zimbabwe before working for many years as a gallery manager at the important art institution Gallery Delta in Harare. She is married to KAAD alumnus Misheck Masamvu, with whom she not only has two children, but also founded the Village Unhu centre in 2012, a collective for the promotion of young artists. In addition to supporting young artists from all over the world through residency programmes, the centre also organises art exhibitions and events that have had a lively and lasting impact on Zimbabwe's art scene in recent years. As a freelance artist, Georgina Maxim is primarily concerned with modern textile art, which she is exhibiting in the Zimbabwean pavilion at the Biennale under the title 'Soko Risina Musoro' (A Tale without a Head). This is also a strong sign against the backdrop of the very turbulent social and political times in Zimbabwe.
May you live in interesting times – the KAAD congratulates its strong female artists.
