We are proud to announce Tina Ramos Ekongo as our fourth Anti-Apartheid, Now! commissioned artist. Tina Ramos Ekongo self identifies as a Spanish-Equatorial Guinean and is a figurative visual artist, illustrator and cultural integration workshop facilitator. Tina lives and works in the North West of England and was born in 1987 in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
Tina grew up in Spain, between Madrid and Zaragoza. She moved to the UK in 2011 making the Northwest her permanent residence in 2016. Following her first degree in Fashion Design, she graduated in Sheffield Hallam University in 2015 with a Masters Degree in International Marketing. Tina applies her extensive knowledge of history of art and artistic techniques through her practice and shares this with participants in her workshops.
In the run up to her commission launch later this month, we spoke with Tina about her work as an artist. She says,
“As an artist, my work is mainly portraiture and is very influenced by the traditional murals used in grassroots African health campaigns and by the artwork found in African barbershops and hair salons. My personal style is influenced by the great Congolese artist Cheri Samba while the feminist and political context behind my work is inspired by the work of the surrealist Mexican artist Frida Khalo. I paint only Black women because through my work I am trying to reflect, in a powerful statement, the essence of their fearless spirit.”
Fufu I Tina Ramos Ekongo (2022) I Acrylic on Cardboard
As a part of her artistic practice, she runs workshops and classes, focusing mainly on portraiture and African culture,
‘The idea is to bring a positive sense of empowerment and inspire young artists from minoritised backgrounds in pursuing a creative career. I also believe it is time to normalise the image and culture of black people and people of colour as creative subjects. This is a way to diversify the creative content that is predominant in the UK art scene and to create opportunities for black artists and artists of colour whose stories are sometimes overlooked.’ To this end, Tina developed a series of portraits, titled Black Queens, launched on International Women’s Day 2022 at Warrington’s Castlefield Gallery honouring key figures from the Black British Arts movement of the 1980s and 90s. The representation of the women intentionally references both portraiture used in 16th and 17th Century representation of British royalty and cultural portrayal of African leaders.
Black Queen I Young Lubaina Himid I Tina Ramos Ekongo (2021). Acrylic and Gold Leaf on Cardboard.
For our commission, Tina has created a series of portraits based on some of the black and brown women who played an important role during the South African liberation struggle. In keeping with her signature style, these will be in a traditional portraiture style and delivered through a mixed media of acrylic, gold leaf, African fabric and collage on cardboard or canvas.
The subjects of these new portraits will be depicted with garments and accessories typical of different cultural groups within South Africa. The new portraits will frame these women as main characters from within the rich history of the movement against apartheid, with the aim to respectfully represent and to celebrate them as individuals and as contributors to the struggle.
Tina’s commission is part of the Anti-Apartheid, Now project, a Liliesleaf Trust UK led project, funded by National Lottery funded Arts Council England with support from the Barry Amiel and Norman Melburn Trust and, for some project elements, London Borough of Islington’s Local Initiative Fund. Tina responded to our specific brief entitled ‘Black History Commission’.
Artists were invited to apply for this commission to celebrate ‘Black History’ more widely than just within a specific month, juxtaposing the work’s intended release date (October) with the premise that, in a digitally displayed format, the work becomes a lasting resource for audiences to engage in celebration of Black heritage year round. The commission should, within the artist’s own practice, explore and respond to lived experience of race-based injustice and imagine new futures, ideally linking creatively to activism against apartheid and related themes.
When we talked about what drew her to applying for this commission, she said,
‘I have always been moved by the stories surrounding the apartheid and the injustice suffer by the victims. Before getting involved with the project I was already researching the different figures who fought the oppressive system. As a feminist artist who focus is on portraying black and brown women, I started to look into the female figures that had an important and decisive role in the fight against Apartheid in South Africa. This is the reason this project resonates with my work. It is important to me that the lives and the stories of these women are known by everyone.’
We look forward to releasing Tina’s Black History Commission in October 2022.
“Umfazi, Owesifazane, Vrou” are the words for woman in isiXhosa, isiZulu and Afrikaans, the three most spoken languages in South Africa.
Written by Matthew Hahn, Anti-Apartheid Now! Project Producer, October 2022
