"Living with Art" exhibition makes its international debut at the Bermuda National Gallery this evening.

The exhibit is one of the most impressive private collections of modern and contemporary African-American art in the United States.

The exhibition will be officially opened by Premier Ewart Brown this evening, but opens to the public tomorrow. The exhibit will continue until January 3, of next year.

The "Living with Art" exhibit is drawn entirely from the collection of Alitash Kebede, an Ethiopian-born, Los Angeles collector. It features some of the most important African-American artists of the 20th Century.

The collection includes 74 works by 37 artists from the modern and contemporary periods – Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis, Lois Mailou Jones, Richard Mayhew, and Betye Saar and her daughters, Alison Saar and Lezley Saar.

It stretches from the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s through the 20th century, the collection features a diverse and sweeping range of styles, subjects and media including portraits, landscapes, abstracts, sculptures and mixed media.

The exhibition has been organised by Landau Travelling Exhibitions of Los Angeles, California, and is sponsored by the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs, HSBC Bank of Bermuda, Bank of Bermuda Foundation and Friends of 'Living with Art'.

Bermuda National Gallery director Laura Gorham described the exhibition as "a dream come true" for the museum.

"For many years we have been looking for the right exhibition that would resonate with Bermuda, introducing the full scope of 20th Century art through the work of key African-American artists," she explained.

"With this exhibition, we are able to realise our goal of bringing to Bermuda world-class artwork that will inspire and challenge our artists, students and general public."

Educational programming featuring several art world professionals and artists supports the three-month exhibition.

Alitash Kebede herself will deliver two public lectures and she will also visit local schools. While other programming related to the exhibition will feature Halima Taha, art historian and author of Collecting African American Art; artist Richard Mayhew; art historian and curator Dr. Lizzetta LeFalle-Collins, one of the jurors at the 1998 Bermuda Biennial; and Grace Stanislaus, executive director of the Romare Bearden Foundation.

For full details of related event programming, visit the Bermuda National Gallery website at www.bermudanationalgallery.com/calendar.html.

"Living with Art" will also be featured in a special Newspapers In Education supplement on the visual arts that will be published by The Royal Gazette next week, and in a special television programme to be aired on VSB later this month.

There are a number of reasons why Ms Kebede is so excited about her collection coming to Bermuda.

"One of many reasons is the fact that even though my art collection has been exhibited in several museums in the US for the last four years, this is the first time it is being shown outside of the US," she said.

"These are works of artists that I have admired and have inspired me and many others. To share them with the people of Bermuda, who remind me so much of my own people of Ethiopia, is truly a pleasure.

"I am delighted by the kind of enthusiasm I have received about the collection not only from the people at the Bermuda National Gallery but, from the number of people I have met on my very first trip to Bermuda, a couple of months ago.

"In the past, the public response to the exhibition whenever it has been shown has been overwhelming. I know that the people of Bermuda will be delighted and inspired by the work of these highly gifted, world-class artists and it is my pleasure to share it with them."

Her interest in art was initially sparked when, as a young girl, she attended an exhibition of the late Ethiopian modern painter, Skunder Boghossian, at Addis Ababa University.

"Bhogohssian, who was trained in Paris, was known for his abstractions based on the symbols and material culture from his native Ethiopia as well as the Black Diaspora," she explained.

Ms. Kebede, who moved to the US to study in the 1970s, eventually met Boghossian in Washington, DC in 1982, purchased one of his paintings and started a collection that now includes more than 100 works.

Ms. Kebede is also a long-time friend of Bermuda's Premier, having been a patient of Dr. Brown's in Los Angeles more than 30 years ago.

In a foreword to the exhibition catalogue, the Premier wrote: "I never would have imagined my young Ethiopian patient would have emerged to be one of the greatest collectors of African-American art in the world.

"I am proud to have known her then; I am proud to know her today. This time Ms Kebede isn't walking into my medical practice, but into our country's National Gallery.

"I expect the presence of her collection at the BNG will be as exciting for dedicated art lovers as it is for people rarely exposed to modern and contemporary art."

The Premier said he and his wife Wanda encourage every Bermudian to visit "Living with Art''.

"This is a rare opportunity to see some spectacular works right in Hamilton.

"We hope Ms Kebede's collection will draw people who do not typically come to City Hall to experience art. If it accomplishes this goal then 'Living with Art' exhibition will be an unqualified success."

"Living with Art: Modern & Contemporary African American Art from the Collection of Alitash Kebede" will be on display at the Bermuda National Gallery from October 9 until January 3. Admission is free.

To find out more about Alitash Kebede, her collection and the artists featured in Living with Art, visit http://www.bermudanationalgallery.com/current.html