What People Are Saying

About Augie N'Kele and Forgotten Heritage

"He's more than an artist, he's a storyteller--with his hands. And he tells a story with the same passion that he remembers in his mother's voice when she told him about slavery in Africa..."
"...with aluminum gutter mesh, wire, and metal, a legacy of black history unfolds in incredible detail. "
Dianne Elliott , DFW Connection magazine in 1993

"People say it's just amazing how he uses the material he uses, how someone can take ordinary wiring and create sculptures with it," said Leon Woods, who helped install an exhibit of N'Kele's work at the Diggs Gallery at Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina. "It's been three or four years and people are still talking about it."...Fort Worth Star-Telegram article May. 20, 2003

...He makes imaginative use of simple material...a very sophisticated artist. He's had years of study and it shows, but it doesn't look contrived or artificial. There's still that look of freshness or immediacy which is the mark of artistic vision...Marci J Inman, Director, Irving Arts Center Irving,TX

Opening Reception for Forgotten Heritage at Fort Worth Museum of Science & History

Mr. N'Kele's musical instruments and visual art are exquisite examples of adapting industry's discards into objects of beauty...

Chip Taylor, Fort Worth Museum of Science & History

You were a fantastic addition to our Design IT studio program. Your warmth and humor make working with you a joy for us and our teens. Thanks for being so gracious during our visit to Tarrant County College, and for teaching us how to create art from wire. We still wear the jewelry you helped us craft.

Saafir 2006
Abdur-Raheem Saafir, DesignIT Coach
Design IT Studio, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History

Kidnapping of Olaudah, on exhibit withTragic Wake, Spirit Square, Charlotte North Carolina

...several artists in Tragic Wake focus on the factual history of slavery and its aftermath: They construct their art to serve as a visual form of testimony, taking history as a starting point to give witness to their horror of past injustices or to celebrate stories of courage and triumph against great odds. Working in tableau format, N'Kele often accompanies his work with passages of text culled from his research materials... Alan Prokop, Curator, Spirit Square Center for Arts, Charlotte, North Carolina, Tragic Wake: The Legacy of Slavery and the African Diaspora in Contemporary Art

...N'Kele, a native of Congo, has been telling the story of the slave trade since 1991 when he was inspired to take up sculpting...His art work, included in the the Henrietta Marie exhibit, is part of a body of work N'Kele has entitled "Forgotten Heritage"...He described his work in an effort to educate children about the history of slavery.

It's an effective medium for storytelling. As a teacher in a predominantly African American third grade class, I struggled with my students' aversion to their history. As they put it, they didn't want to listen to "all that slave stuff." But the children who watched N'Kele create one of his sculptures, listened attentively to him...Edie Scott, Fort Worth Weekly

...incredibly successful...visitors have remarked that it has been the best exhibition yet hosted by the new art center... Susan Talbot-Stanaway, Director, Sioux City Art Center

...artists from around the state submitted works...centerpiece of the exhibit is an incredible wire and aluminum sculpture by Augie N'Kele...Liane Vine Bridge is more than art; it's a wonderful symbol of ingenuity and perseverance... Andy Grieser, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth, TX

Forgotten Heritage, Sarratt Gallery, Vanderbilt University, 1996

Best exhibit I've seen here...E D M Wise, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN