The 8th edition of the East African Art Biennale has been officially launched at the French Institute of Burundi

BUJUMBURA February 27^th (ABP) – Since February 22, 2018, the French Institute of Burundi (IFB) has hosted the 8^th edition of the East Africa Art Biennale, a major presentation of more than 70 works which has already toured the capitals and cities of the member countries as part of the Moving Art Across East African Borders project.                                                                                                                    In his address on that occasion, Mr. Marc Mertillo in charge of Affairs of French Embassy in Burundi recalled that this biennale organized for 15 years now by the Tanzanian association East African Art Biennale aims at promoting and at giving greater international visibility to painters in the EAC area. That biennale of art is all the more important today because if African art has now acquired a full and complete place in the international contemporary art market, it is clear that the EAC artists are not yet visible enough, he said, adding that this exhibition is an opportunity for EAC artists to advance knowledge of their production and recognition of their talents.
After a short appeal for applications launched in 2017, 62 painters from EAC member countries were selected to present their works, he added. The novelty of this edition, he continued, is that this great exhibition of more than 60 stars was able to circulate in the capitals of the EAC. If this exhibition is by nature the place of presentation of these works, he continued, is also the occasion of exchanges between the artists. He also said that at the end of the exhibition a marketing workshop will enable professional artists to learn how to sell their works better and integrate more into existing networks in order to gain access to international circuits for the sale of works of art.
Kiagho Kilonzo, Executive Director of the East Africa Art Biennale Association, said that it was launched in 2003 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with the aim of promoting the EAC artists. To that end, he pointed out that such an exhibition is done every two years where artists participating in it are registered with their works in a catalog that allows people who did not participate in the exhibition to discover them anywhere in the world where they are