About Bruce Clarke
Born in 1959, in London. Studied
Fine Arts, Leeds University, Great Britain.
Visual artist and photographer, now based in Paris, he has
exhibited in France and abroad since 1989.
His art deals with contemporary history, the writing and
transmission of this history.
He would like to see his work as stimulating reflection on the
world and the representation that is made of it. Recognising that
art provides a privileged domain of expression in a complex world
he situates himself outside of an overtly self-centred or over
personalized form of contemporary art, suggesting that one should
not be a bystander in the face of history, but that individual
activity can attempt to play a role in the making of that
history.
He has collaborated with Fest'Africa in Lille, France on the
project " Rwanda : Write, film, paint for memory", and with the
Afrika Cultural Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa.
In 2002 he was artist in residence in Guadeloupe, French Caribbean
at the invitation of the Conseil Général. The residence finished
with a large exhibition entitled “Fragments of tomorrows history”,
dealing with the intrinsic links between slavery, colonialism and
globalisation.
He has created several posters for films, including “Fools”, 1997,
“Silmandé”, 1998, “Edvard Munch”, 2004, “Retour à Gorée”, 2008,
etc.
As a photographer he has also published reportages on South Africa,
Rwanda, the return of Liberian refugees, Palestine, etc.
Involved as an activist in the anti-apartheid struggle, he has
always tried to integrate political commitment in visual art
research, placing his work in a current of critical figuration.
Author of the on-going project, "the Garden of Memory" a memorial
sculpture for the victims of the genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda.
The project has received the supported of UNESCO and is being
realised in partnership with the principle associations of the
civil society in Rwanda.