From Tuesday 7 Jan until Friday 14 February ARC will be hosting the first UK exhibition of work by Togo-born disabled artist Robert Falshau, described as “the Togolese Picasso.”
Born in Lomé, Togo in 1969, Robert Falshau is a self-taught artist who discovered his talent for painting and drawing at a young age.
He realised that his raw talent could not be refined without more training but found a lack of educational opportunities within Togo that could help him. He began to study the techniques of the great painters and artists – techniques that helped to form the individuality of his own work by combining ideas of abstract and reality.
We were introduced to Robert by his friend Hilaire Agnama who is also Togo-born and living in the Tees Valley. Hilaire is a talented drummer who performed at the 2017 Refugee Week celebration and has stayed in contact with ARC ever since.
Hilaire first met Robert in 2019 through a mutual friend who told him about Robert’s dream of building an art school. Robert feels very strongly that there should be an art school for disabled children in Togo – a small step towards the equality disabled people in his country rightly deserve.
The art on display is available for sale and all proceeds will go towards the funding of an art school for disabled children in Togo.
On Wednesday 15 January at 6pm there will be an opening event for the exhibition. The event is free to attend and will feature live music and a video introduction from the artist.