Florence Biennale is a tiny contemporary art exposition, with little tribal art influence. Only two artists exhibited pieces linked to this topic: Marianne Houtkamp and Hanna Fluk. In my opinion, both of them are able to overstep the mainstream.
The first one is a sculptor, about African women overall. She had been living in Africa for 40 years, to study their lifestyle. Marianne supported the local population to develop a better education and healty system. In this way, she got the chance to capture African women in their traditional life, this reverbs in her fine and delicate sculptures. Each of these is made by bronze with strong colors recalling African themes. My favorite is the one in the picture below (the woman is Marianne Houtkamp), but the most impressive overall is the chess game between Tuareg and Masai, West vs East Africa. The sculpture may seem alive to the viewer, due to the living expression of women’s visages.
Marianne Houtkamp at Florence Biennale 2013
Hanna Fluk comes from Argentina, she moved in Israel in the 70s, she’s really friendly and smiling. She expressed her art through an open-minded religious view. I’d love her way of thinking, as it is represented in the paint (photo below): the religion are three, but we are all the same. There’s no need to flow blood for supremacy, since it is not supremacy which makes your life better. “Does the blood of the future run through our veins?”: this is the title of her work and it heads to the world. If anyone will accept the different, the alter, his life will be easier and will be more peaceful with himself and what goes around. Nowadays anyone tries to overcome and overwhelm the other, social and economic competitiveness, is this useful for peace?
Hanna Fluk for Florence Biennale 2013