afrol News, 11 May - A group of eight Tanzanian artists working together with six European artists will create and present a joint contemporary visual artworks using cheap local materials as part of activities to celebrate the European Week for 2009 which is the Europe Year of Innovation and Creativity.

Under the themes of “Creativity and innovation” and “Something from Nothing,” the workshop gathers selected European and Tanzanian artists living in Dar es Salaam to work together at the Danish supported Nafasi Art Space to create joint contemporary artworks using cheap materials and equipment.

According to the artwork organisers, the workshop aims at creating and strengthening relations between artists of different cultures and way of art. The creative process encourages artists to create and work together, and is facilitated by the Danish artist Camilla Norgaard, who is also daily leader of the Copenhagen art space Fabrikken.

During the first day of the workshop only scrap from the surroundings were used in the process.

“It is fantastic how innovative one gets just using material we can find in our backyard,” said Tanzanian painter Ernest Mtaya and continued, “I am so exited and can barely wait to get back to work again tomorrow.”

“Making collective art work is new for most of us, and the collective creative mind is just so amplified,” also said Miguel Costales, a Spanish painter living in Dar es Salaam, giving an example of a plastic bag as hat for a sculpture resembling a human being.

The final art works will be disclosed to the general public at Nafasi Art Space from Tuesday 12 May and the exhibition will continue for the month of May.

The Tanzanian artists participating at the Nafasi workshop inlcude printmakers, painters, a carver and a fashion designer, with their European counterparts also having a photographer in their team.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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