With a rich visual vocabulary and a focus on the viewer's experience, Afrikan art is being redefined at SF State.

To commemorate Black History month, the Art Gallery, on the Terrace level of the Cesar Chavez Student Center, is hosting “Black=Afrika: Visions of the Diaspora.” The free exhibit features Bay Area artist group Omiiroo, comprised of internationally recognized artists Eesuu, Keba Konte, Bryan Keith Thomas, Githinji Wa Mbire, Selamawit Mekonen, and Zumani Cole.

The six artists met about seven years ago through art community functions and started producing work together fours years later, according to Mbire. Andrea Ali, art gallery curator and Mbire's close friend, invited the group to exhibit at SF State.

"All aspects of our Afrikan experience is shown," said gallery curator Robert Melton.

Omiiroo aims to honor their ancestral roots while creating a consciousness of the Black experience in North America as it pertains to Afrikan beliefs. The exhibit chronicles the past and present state of the millions of Africans who traversed the Atlantic to develop the Western Hemisphere. The art references their struggles and accomplishments.

In "Viva, Ken Sara Wiwa, Viva," artist Keba Konte depicts novelist and environmentalist Ken Sara-Wiwa who was sentenced to death by the West African Republic of Nigeria. Konte used a mixture of photographs, metal and paint to create the piece. It was one in a series of three commissioned by Amnesty International and the Sierra Club in a campaign for human rights.

"Many of the works were specifically created for this exhibit," said Melton.

In “Mwezi Wa Pili na maombolezo ya mwisho,” which means the Second Month of the Last Salvation, artist Githinji Wa Mbire painted a calendar for the month of February on a wall in the gallery. An event or person is symbolized for each day. On the tenth spot, the ongoing piece has a newspaper posted with a front page picture of Kevin Cooper, an inmate on death row at San Quentin State Prison, who was set to be executed Feb. 10, 2004. On the fifth box of the calendar, depicting Feb. 5, 2004, there is a symbol of the exhibit.

On opening night of "Black=Afrika:Visions of the Diaspora" the gallery was crowded with SF State students and friends of the artists.

"I've come to the gallery before but today I'm here to support a friend [artist Zumani Cole]," said Tiffany Fisher, 22, an SF State student.

"Iyala," by Zumani Cole, was done while the artist was in prison. Envelopes and a ballpoint pen were the sole materials used. The work was so popular in prison, it was treated like cash and exchanged for goods by inmates.

“Omiiroo’s artwork is supposed to be discovered,” said Melton. "We want to leave the viewer with something to think about," he said.

The exhibit is intended to be interactive and, as an extension of the gallery, a lecture series is also available for free. The artists will speak every Thursday throughout the month of February in the Richard Oakes Multicultural Center.

The show runs Feb. 5 through Mar. 2. The spring semester gallery hours are Mondays through Wednesdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Thursdays through Fridays 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.