"In the 1950s we were all hungry for travel and new experiences. There was something in the air: the end of World War Two was still fresh in our minds and everyone needed to find an opening up, a way to discover other countries."

Wifredo Lam Art See all quotes by Wifredo Lam →

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“I thought back to Europe being invaded by the Nazi army with great sadness … For me, seeing Europe had been everything. When I came back to Cuba, I was taken aback by its nature, by the traditions of the Blacks, and by the transculturation of its African and Catholic religions. And so I began to orientate my paintings toward the African.”

“It was like some sort of hell…For me, trafficking in the dignity of a people is just that: hell. I refused to paint cha-cha-cha.”

“I wanted with all my heart to paint the drama of my country but by thoroughly expressing the Negro spirit, the beauty of the art of the blacks.”

Resonant Thoughts

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— Václav Havel

Literature1920–1979

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"I longed for activity, instead of an even flow of existence. I wanted excitement and danger and the chance to renounce self for the sake of my love. I was conscious of a superabundance of energy which…"

— Leo Tolstoy

Literature1828–1910

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"There is little abstract art, today, and what there is is stammering and imperfect. It is an attempt to let the world speak for itself, instead of reporting the speech of mind excited by their picture…"

— Franz Marc

Art1880–1916

#knowledge

"The youth are now being burdened to provide solutions to all the problems that they were not responsible to creating in the first place.’ We are born into a broken world, we have to be the clean up cr…"

— Iddris Sandu

Journalism1997

#life