An ode to the pioneers of African photography

These photographers are above all portraitists, but drawn into a joyful movement of liberation, they have left their studios and travelled around the city reporting on the atmosphere of the nightlife. Since the 1950s, Jean Depara has criss-crossed the streets of Kinshasa, from bars to dance halls, to the sound of rumba, an Afro-Cuban dance. From 1961 onwards, Malick Sidibé followed the youth in the Bamako surboums to capture the twist, a dance that came from the United States via Paris. And it is no coincidence that in 2017, two posthumous exhibitions in Paris and Arles were called “Mali twist” and “Swinging Bamako”.

A photography capturing a liberated youth

The vogue for twist in Bamako can be seen as a surprise in a city that has been celebrating its Independence for a year now and which, by mimicry with the West, is indulging in a music whose musical structure breaks with African music and with jazz. This mimicry can be seen in the attitudes and costumes: men quickly adopt the European habit, followed a little later by women. The décor uses imported objects, from Solex to the Beetle. In his studio, Seydou Keita has European props: scooters, watches, pens.

In a context of political independence that can only be achieved with economic and cultural aspects, one can be surprised by this pro-Western fashion as students from Berkeley and the Latin Quarter look towards Che Guevara, Mao or Martin Luther King. It must be said that there is a double context: the African independence which frees youth from the Western colonial yoke, and at the same time, in this Western world, a phenomenon of liberation of youth which asserts itself as a socio-cultural category in its own right, which, nourished by the thought of Marcuse and the pill, exults in May 68. A movement of such great magnitude that plays with borders like… the twist!

These photographers assert themselves as artists by vocation, by public favour and by necessity. The use of argentic photograph, by economy, imposes them a single shot, often in daylight. It is therefore necessary to work on the framing, the light, the pose wherever you are, but with an arranged setting. By training, by instinct or by necessity, the portrait always imposes itself. The face turned a little to one side, the position of the hands and above all the gaze that must reveal the “image” . Seydou Keita explains that : the photographer is “a man-eater because he takes away his “dyaa” or his “double self”. Through these faces and attitudes, can we capture with these portraitists, at this time, the soul of this African youth doubly liberated by making the distinction between appearance and reality.

Presentation of some of the artists showcased

Among others, Philippe KOUDJINA AYI and Mory BAMBA will be presented. Philippe KOUDJINA AYI was born around 1940 in Togo, died in 2014 in Niamey (Niger). For 40 years, since the 1960s of Independence, Philippe Koudjina has been criss-crossing the capital of Niger from bars to nightclubs with his 6×6 camera to leave us today with the memory of this time of freedom and joy. He frequents the nightclubs of young Nigeriens who gather to have fun and dance to the sounds of Zairian rumba and trendy Western hits as well as the French military and parachute circles based in the country.

Mory BAMBA was born in 1949 in Sikasso, Mali, lives and works in Kadiolo. After being trained by his father, who was the first to open a modern studio in Sikasso after independence, Mory Bamba travels by moped through the villages around his home in 1968 to create portraits and relate the daily life of the inhabitants of the villages of Mali. He evokes the ethnic mix, cultural diversity and the cohesion of society.

Le Bal de Bamako

Fondation Blachère

Contemporary Art Exhibition

From 11th May to 26th September 2020

zi les Bourguignons, 382 Avenue des Argiles, 84400 Apt

France

The post “Le Bal de Bamako” at the Fondation Blachère appeared first on Artskop.

In collaboration with The Walther Collection, the Ryerson Image Centre (RIC) in Toronto present a major exhibition exploring African photographic portraiture through the perspectives of women, both as sitters and photographers. Guest curated by scholar Sandrine Colard, The Way She Looks: A History of Female Gazes in African Portraiture features contemporary works by female artists alongside twentieth-century studio portraits and early colonial images and albums, exclusively from The Walther Collection’s holdings.

Throughout the history of photography, African women’s bodies have been repeatedly objectified and fetishized. Furthermore, the African female gaze is one of the most under-studied subjects in histories of visuality—a frequent assumption of powerlessness has caused researchers to overlook these women’s capacity to shape their own representations. On rare occasions when this viewpoint has been examined, women’s gazes are described as vital only to their own “limited” perspective. Drawing on the uniquely expansive range of images in The Walther Collection, The Way She Looks provides a timely historical overview of African female experience in photography and shifts the focus towards women’s gazes, highlighting female acts of looking that challenge the male-dominated narrative of the medium. With over 100 works by both female and male practitioners from across Africa, the exhibition emphasizes the multiple and nuanced ways women see and present themselves, both as photographic subjects and in positions behind the camera.

The second section features women’s portraits since the 1950s by notable West African photographers, such as Malick Sidibé and Seydou Keïta. From the middle of the twentieth century, African women became regular patrons of the portrait studios that were flourishing, particularly in cities. Desiring to be represented in front of the camera, women sitters styled themselves, carefully chose their outfits, commissioned the photographer, and performed during studio sessions.

The patriarchal imprint of male-owned studios was therefore frequently challenged by the self-fashioning agency of the women stepping in front of their lenses. At the same time, documentary photographers began to record the African female experience in a period of rapid social, cultural and political change as many nations prepared for and achieved independence. This was especially true in the decades surrounding the end of apartheid in South Africa, when numerous image-makers—white and black, but still predominantly male—captured self-aware subjects in moments of hardship, joy, resistance, and tenderness.

The final section highlights a number of significant African female and non-binary artists who have emerged since the 1990s, including Yto Barrada, Jodi Bieber, Zanele Muholi, Lebohang Kganye, Grace Ndiritu, Nontsikelolo “Lolo” Veleko, Sue Williamson, and Mimi Cherono Ng’ok. Exploring a wide array of subjects, from feminist, queer, and gender issues to history, kinship, migration, memory, and loss, many of the works made by these artists challenge conventional understandings of African female photographic representation. As the imaging of black female subjects continues to be a site of reductive and denigrating perceptions, and as a new wave of women’s voices rise to reclaim their fair share of humanity, these artists intervene upon some of our age’s most pressing conversations.

This exhibition is curated by Sandrine Colard, an art historian, writer, and curator based in New York and Brussels. A specialist of modern and contemporary African arts (PhD Columbia University), Colard is a professor at Rutgers University-Newark and has been appointed Artistic Director of the 6th Lubumbashi Biennale 2019, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Colard is currently at work on a book about the history of photography in the DRC (awarded 2019–2020 Ford Foundation Fellowship).

The Ryerson Image Centre’s (RIC) mission focuses on the research, teaching and exhibition of photography and related media. It is an active partner within the academic fabric of Ryerson University, the cultural network of greater Toronto, and the national and international artistic community. Its exhibition program addresses topics of social, cultural, aesthetic and historical concern from a variety of contemporary perspectives. Additionally, its Peter Higdon Research Centre conducts and facilitates inquiry into primary resource materials and offers workshops, lectures, symposia and publication programs. The RIC maintains a collection of photography spanning the medium’s history, as well as several artist and journalism archives—including the renowned Black Star Collection of twentieth century photo-reportage.

The Way She Looks: A History of Female Gazes in African Portraiture

Photographs from The Walther Collection

Ryerson Image Centre’s (RIC)

September 11 – December 8, 2019

33 Gould Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5B 1W1 Canada

The post The Way She Looks: A History of Female Gazes in African Portraiture appeared first on Artskop.

For his first retrospective in France, Hassan Hajjaj transformed the European House of Photography into the Moroccan House of Photography.

Born in 1961 in Larache, Morocco, Hassan Hajjaj has since lived and worked in both London and Morocco. Equally influenced by the London cultural and music scene, and his North African heritage, his practice reflects his ability to build bridges between the two cultures. This is most evident in the photographic series he began producing in the 1980s using colourful compositions to mix and blend the codes of contemporary fashion photography and Pop Art, bringing together different styles, references and icons.

But beyond the sometimes deliberately kitsch look and playful humour that these images exude, they also support the artist’s message. For if Hassan Hajjaj plays with the imagery of fashion brands, it is not only a response to the question of what constitutes “today’s new Pop Art”; but it is also a way of expressing his position on today’s consumer society, especially with respect to the act of wearing the veil. By picturing young veiled women engaging with pop art and fashion that often ignore them, the artist seeks to explore questions of identity politics.

Furthermore, this combination of statements and Pop Art aesthetic, is also reflected in the frames for his photographs, which he makes in three dimensions using products mainly from Moroccan consumer culture (tin cans, tubes of harissa, and so on) and which become an integral part of the artwork. It is no accident that Rachid Taha gave Hassan Hajjaj the nickname Andy Wahloo* (“I have nothing” in Arabic), an aphorism Hajjaj prints on his clothes, within his installations, and which is the name of the bar in Paris whose interior he designed.

PART 1 – VOGUE : THE ARAB ISSUE

The first room of the retrospective exhibition highlights Hassan Hajjaj’s interest in the world of fashion and clothes— as well as its contradictions. The works on display reference, with some irony, the regular fashion shoots that take place for magazines in the Medina of Marrakesh and Casablanca. However, instead of the European models who are usually photographed, Hassan Hajjaj presents a series of portraits of Moroccan women wearing his own designs, which are most often influenced by traditional Moroccan clothing.

These posed tableau are accompanied by portraits showing women wearing traditional Hijabs, and are echoed by a series of hand-painted portraits also depicting veiled women, against vividly coloured backgrounds.

PART 2 – U-LOT INSTALLATION; “LEGS”, “GNAWI RIDERS” AND “KESH ANGELS” SERIES

Vogue: The Arab Issue is followed by works from different series, as well as a new video installation titled U-LOT, where Hajjaj pursues his exploration of the ambiguous status of the veil in contemporary society.

In conjunction he shows the “Legs” series, featuring photographs that are cropped in an unusual way, highligh- ting the legs of models wearing clothes with very different cultural origins. This work marks a transition between the first part of the exhibition, which is rooted in the world of fashion and clothing in general, and the rest of the show which is more focused on the daily lives and lifestyles of the models.

In these images traditional items and major luxury brand logos are seen side by side. Lively and colourful, like all of Hassan Hajjaj’s work, they resonate with his fashion creations and once again reflect the influence of Pop Art and his connections with, and fondness for, his native country:

“I especially love Morocco’s light and colours. I love all colours, but especially a mish-mash of colours: I’ve learned not to be scared of mixing everything together. Music is also very important to me and I listen to it while I work. Maybe you can tell – the images and the frames have a kind of rhythm”

This section of the show continues with two series presented side by side: “Gnawi Riders” and “Kesh Angels”. In the first, Hassan Hajjaj has photographed gnawa musicians from the traditional culture of the same name. All his models are men striking the same pose on motorbikes: with one foot on the ground.

The title of “Kesh Angels” takes its inspiration from Hells Angels gangs and references the abbreviated nickname of Marrakesh (“Kesh”). These are portraits of women who wear djellabas, scarves, veils or other traditional items that contrast sharply with the surprising modernity of certain details, such as vividly coloured fabrics, leopard prints, sunglasses, or shoes imitating high-end luxury brands. Proud and defiant, they pose on their motorbikes on which they ride around Marrakesh.

PART 3 – MY ROCKSTARS

The series “My Rockstars” is a vibrant tribute to the personalities that form the backdrop for Hajjaj’s cultural life from London, North Africa and elsewhere: not only internationally famous artists, but also friends and acquaintances of Hassan Hajjaj who are unknown to the general public. Most of the models, selected subjectively by the artist, are musicians working in a variety of styles, for example hip-hop, jazz and gnawa. They include Rachid Taha, Keziah Jones and Hindi Zahra.

A few days before the shoot, Hassan Hajjaj selects the décor and clothes to create an overall setting. This preparation gives a lot of freedom to the model, to whom Hajjaj gives a predominant role: the picture is not just Hassan’s photograph, but a photograph of an actual person. The work is a collaborative process where the model has to convey his or her character and tastes, sometimes by suggesting accessories and even the setting for the shoot.

PART 4 – BLACK AND WHITE PORTRAITS

The retrospective exhibition ends with a series of unpublished black and white photographs from throughout Hajjaj’s long career: these portraits, group photographs, and more documentary-like street scenes are in marked contrast to the colourful photographs that precede them in the show.

But whatever the series, the model or the colour of the photograph, Hassan Hajjaj reminds us: “I wanted to show the world what I saw of the country and its people – the energy, the attitude; the inventiveness and glamour of street fashion; the fantastic graphics on everyday objects and products; people’s happy outlook and strength of character”.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE EUROPEAN HOUSE OF PHOTOGRAPHY OF PARIS INTO THE MOROCCAN HOUSE OF PHOTOGRAPHY

On the occasion of this first retrospective of the artist in France, Hassan Hajjaj himself offers carte blanche to two Moroccan artists whom he invites successively to present their work in the European House of Photography Studio: Zahrin Kahlo (11.09-13.10) and Lamia Naji (18.10-17.11).

To make the European House of Photography of Paris a real ‘Moroccan House of Photography’ Hajjaj will invest the building with his unique world, presenting his wallpapers, rugs, furniture, objects and clothes.

In addition to photography, design and recycling are at the heart of the work of Hassan Hajjaj, who combines ethnic influences, logos and everyday objects often from the basis of very simple everyday materials, taking all kinds of clichés and giving them a contemporary, sometimes deliberately kitsch form: soft drinks crates become benches, paint pots are made into stools, road signs and shop signs are turned into tables, and tin cans are transformed into chandeliers.

Around the exhibition

With regard to the retrospective programme devoted to Hassan Hajjaj, whose aesthetics are mainly based on studio practice, La Petite Galerie of the European House of Photography of Paris, dedicated to young audiences, presents “STUDIO AFRICAIN“, a selection of works by the first great African portraitists.

Artists presented :
Seydou Keita (1921 Bamako, Mali – 2001 Paris)
Abdourahmane Sakaly (1926 Saint-Louis, Sénégal – 1988 Bamako, Mali)
Sory Sanlé (1943 Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso)
Malick Sidibé (1935 Soloba, Mali – 2016 Bamako, Mali)

The retrospective exhibition “Carte blanche à Hassan Hajjajaj” is to be seen at the European House of Photography in Paris until 17 November 2019. Address: 5-7 rue de Fourcy, 75004 Paris (France).

The post Hassan Hajjajaj’s first retrospective in France appeared first on Artskop.

Keïta’s remarkable archive of over 10.000 negatives came to light in 1992 after a discovery by André Magnin, the then-curator of Jean Pigozzi’s contemporary African art collection. Modern prints were printed from the negatives with Keïta’s collaboration, allowing his work to be introduced to the art world. International fame quickly followed. The exhibition in Foam consists of signed modern prints, and a large selection of unique vintage prints.

Seydou Keïta – Bamako Portraits is part of an exhibition series about photo studios, presented by Foam in recent years. This series is based on the growing interest in ‘vernacular photography’ and its acknowledgement of social-historical and artistic value. The exhibition was developed in collaboration with the Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC) – The Pigozzi Collection.

Seydou Keïta – Bamako Portraits

6 April – 20 June 2018

Foam Museum

Keizersgracht 609
1017 DS Amsterdam
The Netherlands

The post Re-discover Seydou Keïta with the Foam museum appeared first on Artskop.