Kunsthal KAdE showed the spring 2020 exhibition "Tell Me Your Story, 100 Years of Storytelling in African-American Art. The exhibition showed - for the first time in Europe - an insight into the history of African-American art since the 1920s, divided into five time blocks. Guest curator: Rob Perrée. Since the early 1990s, he has worked intensively on this theme. He wrote numerous articles about it in (art) magazines, made exhibitions and published books. Well before this art became 'hip', Perrée already had it in his sights, visited the studios of artists who are now (world) famous and immersed himself in the underlying theme. Half living in Amsterdam, half living in Brooklyn, New York.
He has written a book about this 35-year engagement with African-American art: 'A Black Collage. My history with African-American art', published by Jap Sam Books Publishers. In the book, he mixes personal memories with existing (old) articles, interviews with artists and fiction. It is a reconstruction of Perrée's search for the essence of African-American art - in all its heterogeneity - which eventually culminated in the exhibition 'Tell Me Your Story.' An individual insight, it has a universal eloquence in that it is at once a thorough portrayal of a very essential element of American art history.
On Nov. 12 was the festive book launch with an inspiring lecture by essayist Stephan Sanders and a musical contribution by singer Luyi van der Lingen and oed player Nawras Altaky.
The book is available for €27.50 online, in bookstores and in the KAdEShop. An English-language edition is also available.