By Ogova Ondego
Published May 17, 2015
An 11-day exhibition of posters aimed at “express[ing] the support and respect of the Venezuelan people for the great African leaders who spearheaded the liberation of Africa from imperialism” opens at Nairobi National Museum on May 20, 2015.
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The historical figures, mainly politicians, featured in the exhibition that is dubbed ‘The African Revolutionary Leaders’ and that shall be officially opened by the ambassador of Venezuela to Kenya, include Muammar al-Qadhaffi of Libya, Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Samora Machell of Mozambique, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Ahmed Ben Bella of Algeria, Antonio Agostinho Neto of Angola, Patrice Lumumba of Congo-Kinshasa, Samuel Nujoma of Namibia and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania.
Held in the Cultural Dynamism Space of the museum, the event is open to art lovers, historians, political scientists, academics, researchers, Africanists, humanists and a host of other stakeholders between 8.30 AM and 5.30 PM, May 21-31, 2015.
“No one can deny that our relationship with Africa was from the very moment the forced migration of Africans to America began,” the Venezuelan ambassador to Kenya writes of the exhibition. “Our Liberator, Simon Bolivar, expressed back in 1817, ‘We are more an extension of Africa than of Europe.’ The Bolivarian process inspired by President Hugo Chavez since 1999 inserted Africa in the daily life of the Venezuelan people. The month of May is for Venezuelans a referential date on which we claim the contribution of Africa to our independence and our cultural diversity.”
For Venezuelans, the ambassador writes, “Africa is a very important continent of our historical legacy. From May 1795 to May 2015. 220 years of libertarian insurgency of José Leonardo Chirino. A libertarian insurrection of blacks who sought to eliminate slavery. An insurrection which set a historic precedent for the independence of Venezuela.The African Revolution Leaders poster exhibition aims to express the support and respect of the Venezuelan people for the great African leaders who spearheaded the liberation of Africa from imperialism.”
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