From Federal to Hopetown

September 26 - December 13, 2024

From Federal to Hopetown traces a personal journey from humble beginnings in a trailer park off Federal Road to a rental home on Hopetown Street.
”This exhibition is a full circle moment for me. The Anderson Center is actually centrally located between the two streets I grew up on, Federal and Hopetown”
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Amongst the central themes of storytelling, story preservation, identity, and economics, Kaima brings to the conversation the idea of migration. She would love for others to explore the effects of “moving” on the physical and mental landscape. While this work feels autobiographical, using family photos and revisiting specific sites, the greater purpose is not one of self, but one of community. “In an effort to produce shells, I invite everyone to reflect on their personal story of migration as well as the evolving face of their community”.
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TX24 Artist: Kaima Marie Akarue

Kaima Marie is the daughter of a Nigerian immigrant and a white mother, which allowed her to exist simultaneously within two vastly different cultures. Kaima uses collage to discover the social implications of identity, with specific attention to the narratives surrounding urbanism and capitalism as they incubate in individual, familial and social tropes . She has showcased nationally in group exhibitions, including the Glendale Library in California, the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans, the San Antonio Art League and Museum, the Houston Museum of African American Culture, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, winning “Best in Show” two years in a row at the longest running African American juried exhibition in the nation. She received the Carol Crow Fellowship in 2023, awarded by the Houston Center for Photography where she debuted her first solo exhibition solely constructed from collage. Kaima is also a recipient of the Houston Endowment’s 2024 Jones Artist Award and continues to garner attention from collectors and institutions having work in collections including the MFAH. She is currently working on her MFA in painting at the University of Houston.

Anderson Center for the Arts 13334 Wallisville Road, Houston, TX

Images by Titus Butler courtesy of The Anderson Center for the Arts.