The State of L3 is a Pan African art collective based in Amsterdam, Dakar and Recife. These three cities were part on the former Dutch transatlantic triangle. The State of L3 collective consists of three artists: Antonio Jose Guzman (Amsterdam), Abdulaye Armin Kane (Dakar) and Felipe Peres Calheiros (Recife). For The State of L3, every artist is working on developing his own ethno-graphical vision of the project, inspired by the personal investigation and creative language of six youngsters with African background, and in collaboration with their own platforms and organizations.

As a collective, we express our work through art and multimedia exchanges, inspired by political issues and modern tendencies concerning the African Diaspora. Our projects, videos, and internet archive are part of the process of understanding the connection between migration, visual culture, and African heritage.

Migration, or the condition of being a subject beyond borders, has always represented one of the most productive resources of aesthetic practices, contributing to the changing of settled cultures. Our Pan African symbiotic research focuses on the issue of Pan African space and migration from very different perspectives, in order to explore what Mieke Bal (2010) has recently defined as “migratory aesthetics”, that is “the current cultural and aesthetic moment in view of the merging of cultures”.

The State of L3 digital library image archive is composed of a collection of art works from our collective and works of artists that inspire us. Our archive includes a wide range of cultural practices, such as visual arts, contemporary arts, literature, film, interventions in public spaces and performance. The State of L3 created this internet database to provide room for communication on the African Diaspora, through images and through text, and functions as a database for African heritage. Access is open for everyone.

We seek new means of communication, a new experience on the track that previous generations have left behind and a new interpretation of the concept of African identity. Therefore, The State of L3 directs its attention at the three artists and their background as a source of inspiration and knowledge to form new images of universal communication. The State of L3 is a transatlantic journal, an exchange of collective memories. With this project, The State of L3 is designed to obtain a portrait of artistic symbiosis between three different cultures, with something in common: a strong sense of African origins.

Installation Concept: The State of L3

* Our interest and research on ancestry include references to images, sounds and the perceptions of our symbiosis in African/Diaspora regions of the world.

* We will create an installation piece with an L3 transatlantic synergy. This includes several beamers and speakers that individually link each other as installation, using elements & photographs of urban spaces.

The objective of the L3 installation would be:

* To examine our perception of ancestry in the three continents in order to gain an understanding of how we influence each other in the global community. In that way we want to create an effective installation that uses transatlantic visuals from the perception of our origins and journeys. Inspired by the Afro-Brazilian scientist José do Patrocínio and Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader .

* To create a visual representation of the State of L3 and deconstruct all the pieces of information of the L3 web exchange database. We’ll use images and sounds found in our urban spaces that illustrate our African environments in order to create awareness in our ancestry and visual culture.

* To immerse the audience in an L3 visual imaginary of our black-Atlantic urban environments and explore the installation as a collective artistic medium that can effectively illustrate the landscapes and ideas of migration in which we live.
A.J. Guzman aka The Akuaigar

Artists participating in The State of L3 Collective

The Netherlands
Antonio Jose Guzman Jaramillo – International Creative Director (Panama/NL)
Folly Teko (Togo/NL)
Jessica de Abreu (Suriname/NL)
Kafui Awoonor (Ghana/NL)
Neil Fortune (Suriname/NL)
Quinsy Gario (Curacao/NL)
Giordana Jansen Perret-Gentil (Curacao/NL)
Raul Balai (Suriname/NL) Lars Borm (NL)
Papa Adama (Burkina Faso/NL)

Senegal
Abdulaye Armin Kane – Creative Coordinator (Senegal)
Jean Henry Lopez (Senegal)
Abdel kader Diakhate (Senegal)
Mansour Kane (Senegal)
Papis Kanoute Ndiaye (Senegal)
Ibrahima Ba (Senegal)

Brazil
Felipe Peres Calheiros – Creative Coordinator (Brazil)
Janayna Cavalcante (Brazil)
Edymarilhiany Tozer (Brazil)
Karine Mirelle (Brazil)
Thúlio Nascimento (Brazil)
Beto Figueiroa
Mateus Sá
Luca Barreto
Ana Lira

Panama
Edduin Gonzalez
Cisco Merel

Advisors
Koyo Kouoh (Senegal) – A reknown cultural producer collaborating with the Dakar Biennale of Art.
She recently served as an advisor to the artistic director for the ‘Documenta 12’.
Anouk Piket (Caramundo/Camera Mundo/NL)
Lianne van der Linden (Kosmopolis Rotterdam/NL)
Elvia Jaramillo (Diplomat & Environmentalist/Panama)
Evelyn Raat (Imagine IC/NL)
Delano Mac Andrew (Suriname/NL)
Remmy Jungerman (Suriname/NL)
Femi Dawkins (Jamaica/America/NL)
Oumar Mbengue Atakosso (Senegal)
Fons Geerlings (Galerie 23/NL)
Astrid Weij (Erfgoed Nederland/NL)
Barbara Consolini (Erfgoed Nederland/NL)
Siri Driessen (Art, History, Cultural Analysis/NL)
Dr Romulo Xavier (University of Pernambuco/Brazil)
Hilde de Bruijn (Head of Exhibitions SMART Project Space/NL)
Walo Araújo (Curator and General Director of the The Panama Art Biennial)

Collaborating artists
Ton van Beers – Sculptures and visual presentation (NL)
Ischa Stuart – Textile production (NL)
Jona de Bokx – Industrial Design (NL)
Vanya Pieters – Web Assistant (NL)

OLAA
Wietske Langedijk (NL)
Saskia ten Holt (NL)
Julia Wilsch (Germany)

Website
Niels Albers (NL)
Claudia Doms (Germany)

The State of L3 is founded, curated and directed by Antonio Jose Guzman
Cultural Exchange Coordinated by OLAA

Grants
The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture
Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development
Mondriaan Foundation
VSB Fonds

2010/11 Exhibitions
Dakar Biennale, Senegal
Gallery 23 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
M HKA Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp
SANAA Gallery Utrecht, The Netherlands
Smart Project Space Amsterdam