Afrika (real name
Sergei Bugaev) (born 28 March 1966) is a
Russian artist.
He was born in
Novorossiysk, on the
Black Sea, and in the early 1980s moved to
Saint Petersburg, where he met and became friends with leaders of the art scene there, such as the painter
Timur Novikov and musician
Boris Grebenshchikov. Shortly thereafter he adopted the artistic moniker "Afrika" and began working as an artist himself. In 1987 he starred as Bananan, the lead character in the groundbreakingly avant garde film
Assa by Russian film director
Sergei Solovyov.
Afrika works mainly in
performance and
installation art. His 1993 project "Krimania" took the form of an initial performance, which involved the artist spending three weeks in a mental institution in
Simferopol,
Crimea, at the end of which he staged an exhibition for the patients and staff of the hospital.
The second part of the project was a major exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts in
Vienna (MAK), entitled "Krimania: Icons, Monuments, Mazáfaka." The work addresses the issue of collective versus individual identity of the
Soviet citizen after the breakup of the
Soviet Union.
In 1999 Afrika represented Russia at the 48th
Venice Biennale. He currently lives and works in
Saint Petersburg,
Miami and
New York.
Further reading
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