Art Gallery At Mesa College Hosts 'Africa In Context' Exhibition

SAN DIEGO — San Diego Community College District is hosting a new art show featuring African art to celebrate Black History Month.

Titled Africa in Context, the exhibition at Mesa College's Art Gallery, 7250 Mesa College Drive, I-300 Building, features pieces from the school's permanent collection.

"We have close to 13oo pieces in the collection," Dr. Denise Rogers, a professor of Art History at the school, said "The majority of the pieces are from the continent of Africa."

Rogers, who curated the collection, said that local collectors and people who are passionate about African art wanted to see the pieces used for "educational purposes.

"They donated them to the college," she said, adding that most of the pieces have been part of the college's collection for 40 years.

Themes related to feminine power, ancestry, healing, and mourning are among the universally relevant concepts evoked by the pieces featured in the exhibit.

In addition to the Africa in Context exhibition, the show also features artwork from the Black Liberated Arts Collective in the Student Gallery on the second floor.

Black Liberated Arts Collective CEO JoJo Jones said that her group wanted to engage visitors to their exhibit beyond what people see, but rather by using all of their body's senses

"We wanted our connections to others to kind of tell stories a little bit deeper than what you see on the canvas," she said.

Mesa College Studio Arts student Noelle Ocen-Odoge said it was very important to center Black vision and Black art.

"Previously in history, our voices have been erased and it's important nowadays to kind of uplift our community to bring about new age and contemporary artists," Ocen-Odoge said.

For the Africa in Context exhibit structures were rebuilt and costumes were reconstructed so visitors could have a "true experience" with the African art, Rogers said.

"Typically, they are on pedestals or are static," Rogers said. "I wanted to give visitors more of a contextual view of how African Art is supposed to be seen.

"It's supposed to be performed, smaller pieces are supposed to be on shrines with offerings, there should be more context to it," she explained. "This is telling a bigger story."

The exhibition runs through February 23.

For more information, visit San Diego Community College District website, here.