Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography
Boubacar Touré Mandémory
Couleurs de Pêche [Colors of Fishing], from the series “Capitales Africaines,” ca. 2000-2005
Chromogenic print, 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm)
Courtesy of the artist
Snap Judgements: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography
June 30 – Aug 27, 2006
Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography is the first major U.S. exhibition in a decade to examine contemporary African photography. The exhibition features over 200 pieces by 35 artists from over a dozen countries, showcasing the diverse cultures of the African continent, from the Muslim nations of North Africa to the sub-Saharan countries of the south.
Photography has maintained a vital presence in African culture for over a century. However, recognition of African photographers and their unique visual language has only recently emerged. When Western photography engages with Africa, it often evokes images of disease, corruption, and poverty. The global media rarely depict contemporary Africans in ordinary situations, and images of crisis often overshadow other representations. In response to this limited perspective that ignores the complexities of daily life across a vast continent of over fifty nations, Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography forces recognition of the varied and contradictory forms of photographic practice now emerging across Africa.
This exhibition is in part devised to ask pertinent questions about the role of images in the public narratives of the African self and spaces within a changing global image ecology. It is not centered on a specific dispute, nor is its critique simplistic. The exhibition comprises discreet, modest, and forceful propositions on how to view Africa. It shows how artists use photography to depict a different social reality, one that is deliberately both pictorial and narrative. At the same time, it questions the historical dependence on narratives of anomie.
African artists and photographers examine the unfolding drama of contemporary life and experience in Africa with acute awareness. They examine and analyze the dizzying processes of spatial transformation, massive transition, and social adaptation that comprise the varied realities of diverse groups, including urban and rural communities and formal and informal settlements. The artists' penetrating insights provide the remarkable story of this project.
Reflecting the increasingly close relation of photography with other forms of experimental art in Africa, Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography will include not only photographic works but also multimedia installations and documentation of performance art.
ARTISTS IN THE EXHIBITION
Doa Aly (Egypt), Moshekwa Langa (South Africa/Netherlands), Lara Baladi (Egypt/Lebanon), Maha Maamoun (Egypt), Oladélé Bamgboye (Nigeria/UK), Boubacar Touré Mandémory (Senegal), Yto Barrada (Morocco), Zwelethu Mthethwa (South Africa), Luis Basto (Mozambique), James Muruiki (Kenya), Zohra Bensemra (Algeria), Lamia Naji (Morocco), Zarina Bhimji (Uganda/UK), Otobong Nkanga (Nigeria/Netherlands), Mohamed Camara (Mali), Jo Ractliffe (South Africa), Ali Chraibi (Morocco), Tracey Rose (South Africa), Omar D. (Daoud) (Algeria), Fatou Kandé Senghor (Senegal), Depth of Field (Collective)(Nigeria), Randa Shaath (Egypt/Palestine), Allan de Souza (Kenya/UK/USA), Mikhael Subotzky (South Africa), Andrew Dosunmu (Nigeria/USA), Sada Tangara (Mali/Senegal), Hala Elkoussy (Egypt), Guy Tillim (South Africa), Theo Eshetu (Ethiopia/Italy), Michael Tsegaye (Ethipia), Mamadou Gomis (Senegal), Hentie van der Merwe (South Africa/Belgium), Kay Hassan (South Africa), Nontsikelelo Lolo Veleko (South Africa), Romuald Hazoumé (Benin)
ABOUTH THE CURATOR
Okwui Enwezor is Dean of Academic Affairs at San Francisco Art Institute, and Artistic Director of Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporaneo de Sevilla, in Seville, Spain. He was Artistic Director of documenta 11, Kassel, Germany (2002) and the 2nd Johannesburg Biennale (1997). Enwezor has curated numerous exhibitions including: The Short Century: Independence and Liberation Movements in Africa, 1945-1994; In-Sight: African Photographers, 1940-Present; and Global Conceptualism. He has joined the International Center of Photography as an adjunct curator.
Photo Credits
Otobong Nkanga, Workmen in Pool 1, 2005 C-print, 23.5 x 35.5 in. (60 x 90 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Theo Eshetu Trip to Mount Ziqualla, Ethiopia, 2005 Inkjet print from video. Courtesy of the artist.
Michael Tsegaye. Untitled, from the series “In and Out,” 2005
C-print, 20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 60.96 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Theo Eshetu. Trip to Mount Ziqualla, Ethiopia, 2005. Inkjet print from video. Courtesy of the artist
Moshekwa Langa. Untitled XXI, 2005. C-print, 11 x 14 in. ( 27.94 x 35.56 cm). Courtesy of the Goodman Gallery and the artist.
Yto Barrada. Meriem - A spelling class at the Darna day centre for street children - Tangier 1999 from the series “A Life Full of Holes: The Strait Project,” 1998-2004. C-print, 29.1 x 29.1 in (74 x 74 cm). Courtesy of Galerie Polaris and the artist
Guy Tillim. Al’s Tower, a block of flats on Harrow Road, Berea, overlooking the Ponte building, Johannesburg, 2004. Pigment print on cotton paper. Courtesy of the artist and the International Center of Photography
Zohra Bensemra. Law-and-order enforcement officers at the Ain Benian police school in Algiers, on the day of graduation of the new self-defence and close combat squad - January 27, 1999, 1999. C-print, 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Allan de Souza. Fountain from the series “The Lost Pictures,” 2004. C Print, 40 x 60 in. (101.6 x 152.4 cm). Courtesy of the Talwar Gallery and the artist.
Nontsikelelo "Lolo" Veleko. Cindy and Nkuli, from “Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder,” Johannesburg, 2003-04. Pigment print on cotton paper. International Center of Photography
Hentie van der Merwe. Cape Mounted Rifles (Dukes), Bandsman (1913-1926) from the series “Trappings,” 2002/2003
Photo-installation, 70.87 x 47.24 in. (180 x 120 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Mohamed Camara. Cactus de Noël 2: Quand je prendrai la place du Père Noël, tu verras. (When I take the place of Santa Claus, you will see.), 2001-02. C-print, 11 x 14.7 in. (28 x 37.3 cm). Courtesy of Galerie Pierre Brullé and the artist.
Guy Tillim. Ntokozo and his brother Vusi Tshabalala at Ntokozo’s place, Milton Court, Pritchard Street, Johannesburg, 2004. Pigment print on cotton paper, 19 3/4 x 28 1/8 in. Courtesy of the International Center of Photography and the artist.
Luis Basto. Bus Stop, Old Harare, 2001. Fibre-based photographic print, 15.6 x 19.5 in. (40 x 50 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Boubacar Touré Mandémory. Couleurs de Pêche [Colors of Fishing], from the series “Capitales Africaines,” ca. 2000-2005. Chromogenic print, 20 x 30 in. (50.8 x 76.2 cm). Courtesy of the artist.
Snap Judgments: New Positions in Contemporary African Photography was organized by the International Center of Photography, New York, and curated by Okwui Enwezor with lead support from Altria Group, Inc., and the ICP Exhibitions Committee. Additional funding was generously provided by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Christian K. Keesee, Roberta and Steven Denning, Eni S.p.A., Marjorie G. and Jeffrey A. Rosen, Artur Walther, Association Française d’action artistique, Robert Scully and Nancy Peretsman, Meryl and Robert Meltzer, Andrew and Marina Lewin, Jane K. Lombard, Prince Claus Fund, the Government of Flanders, Mondriaan Foundation, Pamela and Arthur Sanders, and the British Council. Miami Art Central presentation of this exhibition is sponsored by the Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation. Additional support is provided by the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, the Cultural Affairs Council, the Mayor, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners, and the Cowles Charitable Trust.