Among the approximately 500 companies present this year at FILDA in search of new business opportunities, the ELA gallery (Espaço Luanda Arte) makes the difference, exhibiting works of art born from an amalgamation of plates, rims, tubes and other metallic residues.
A lion's head and a bust of Queen Ginga are two of the four sculptures created by Jone Ferreira as part of the project 'Nzumbi Ya Nzambi' (Divine Spirits) and exhibited at FILDA, which curator and gallery owner Dominick Maia Tanner, director of ELA, considers an ideal stage.
"We think that the marriage between business and contemporary art is perfect" not least because "we want more and more Angolans to collect, like and value their art", said the responsible for ELA to Lusa.
"These are amazing works, handmade, with a knife, without welding, without screws", he describes.
The material – three metal waste trucks – was provided by the company Fabrimetal, one of the exhibitors at FILDA and which is a partner in the project.
In addition to the artistic component, it is also "a call to attention and to recycling", says the art producer, praising the reuse of apparently useless waste, which turns out to be a business as well, incorporating micro-entrepreneurs (waste sellers), in a business chain that creates value.
Dominick Tanner argues that social responsibility is increasingly important to companies and also extends to the environment, the arts, culture and a country's identity.
"I usually say that art and culture are indicators of self-esteem. The more we value our country, the more we take care of our country, the more we create identity art, the more we are increasing the country's self-esteem", stressed the art producer .
The 36th edition of FILDA counts with the exhibition of 500 companies from South Africa, Germany, Argentina, China, Egypt, United States of America, Eritrea, France, India, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Turkey and Portugal, which have the largest international representation.
The international event, which did not take place in 2020 due to the covid-19 pandemic, was again postponed three times this year also because of restrictions on circulation and health measures.
Art and business come together at FILDA and show how to value garbage
This year, art joined the business at the Luanda International Fair (FILDA) by the hands of artist Jone Ferreira, who used scrap metal to create pieces that refer to the Angolan identity.
