Additionally...

Film producer extraordinaire Maxine Walters has turned her sights to her original first love — art, specifically installation and visual art. Walters is one of only two prominent creative Jamaicans invited to participate in this year’s Biennial of Contemporary African Art Dak’art which attracts art enthusiasts and creators worldwide.

Using this year’s ‘Out Of The Fire!’ theme as inspiration, Walters and her Jamaican-born confrère Yrneh Gabon are set to ignite the Jamaican spirit on the grounds of the Monument de la Renaissance Africaine and throughout the Biennial venue. The exhibition runs through June 21, 2022.

Biennial of Contemporary African Art Dak’art is the largest and most prominent art event on the continent of Africa, staged in

Dakar, Senegal. The event, now on its 33rd staging will highlight the works of several visual artists and artists’ collectives. Nearly 85 countries are represented in the programme with 250,000 visitors expected and more than 1,200 journalists present.

Gabon, who is also exhibiting in the main event, and Walters are part and parcel of a larger collective that was formed two years ago, dubbed Knit Work in response to an invitation by Senegalese artist Kalidou Kassé. They will join their fellow ‘Knitworks’ team Ibe Ananaba, Michael Massenburg, Janet E Dandridge and June Edmonds as they take on the task of making a statement about their shared vision of Africa for Africans.

Walter’s presentation, Fire in the Dancehall, is an immersive display that showcases the power of the dancehall aesthetic, and was inspired by her novel Serious T’ings A Go Happen: Three Decades of Dancehall Signs.

To achieve this multimedia installation for the Dakar Marché, she assembled a dynamic team comprising Matthew Mccarthy (lead designer), Gillian Foster Hall (visual artist), Loris Cicogna (technical support), Dean “Squiddly” Sutherland (cinematographer) Simone and Jonathan March (marketing and purchasing).

“We came together organically to recontextualise the aesthetic of the dancehall. This is my first trip to our ancestors’ home of West Africa from whence we came. Now we return, [and] I’m excited about going back and cannot wait to light up Dakar with Fire in the Dancehall,”

shared Walters.

A throwback of the Serious T’ings installation at the Irish and Chinhelmed exhibit Let There Be Reggae at Art Basel 2017 Maxine Walters’ Serious T’ings installation in Senegal has been a huge hit, and has been described as “the most fun and innovative piece in the Marche”. (Photos: Courtesy of Maxine Walters)

Film producer and artist Maxine Walters

Jamaicanborn, mixedmedia and performance artist Yrneh Gabon

An art enthusiast stands in front of Yrneh Gabon’s second exhibition and installation Between Earth and Sky 2022 at the Le Marché International De Arts, 14th Edition Dakar Biennale 2022, held at the African Renaissance Monument, Dakar, Senegal.

Page 2 spotlighted the Maxine Walters Serious T’ings A Guh Happen exhibition at the Harmony Hall Gallery in Tower Isle, St Mary, on March 26, 2014.

Maxine Walters’ drew inspiration from her 2016 novel Serious T’ings A Go Happen: Three Decades of Dancehall Signs for the Fire in the Dancehall display at the Biennial of Contemporary African Art Dak’art.

Mad Saturday Promotion presents Girls Night Fi Shine poster