Philanthropist and art collector Roni Willett and visual artist Walid Layadi-Marfouk hosted the closing reception for Second Generations, a non-profit art show at Africa House, a pop-up members club that coincided with the 2018 UN General Assembly week, dedicated exclusively to high-level officials from over 27 African delegations.
Heads of state, state ministers, ambassadors and their top aides convened in a Beaux-Arts mansion with thought leaders, entrepreneurs, artists and designers who all share mutual connections to Africa.
Notable guests to Africa House and Second Generations included President of Benin Patrice Talon, Gabon Ambassador to the United States Michael Mouussa-Adamo, Mozambique Ambassador to the United States Carlos dos Santos, Naomi Campbell, Dayo Okeniyi, Young Paris, Renée Willett, Richard Phillips, Isaac Ferry, John Targon, Alexandre Assouline, Pietro Quaglia, Nachson Mimran, Omar Hernandez, Tyler Tananbaum, Eve Therond and Julio Mario Santo Domingo III.
Second Generations featured the work of 15 artists connected to more than a dozen countries of the Global African Diaspora, including Jean-Michel Basquiat and Kehinde Wiley. The exhibition explored the power, heft and beauty of a multiplicity of identities across the African continent and its diasporas – transgressing and transcending borders.
Second Generations was a non-profit show. The curators took no commission, and all proceeds go straight to the artists. The artists were also encouraged to make a donation to arts & education programs in Morocco and South Africa.