United Kingdom
Emmanuelle Andrianjafy, whose work was featured in ZAM’s Photo Edition #4, is one of the participating photographers in an exhibition exploring ‘Africa’.
Africa State of Mind at New Art Exchange in Nottingham features photography addressing the complexity of life in an African country today. What does it mean? How does it feel? Curator Ekow Eshun explains: 'On one hand, there is the boosterism of an "Africa rising" narrative, that celebrates the development of an emergent middle class and the growth of a tech sector. It’s driven by a young aspirational population, while glossing over the inequalities of income and opportunity. It still hinders social progress in many countries. On the other hand, there is a reductive stereotype of Africa as a land of would-be migrants and corrupt rulers - a vision given ugly validation by President Trump's description of its nations as "shithole countries".'
16 artists from 11 different countries interrogate ideas of "Africanness" through highly subjective renderings of life and identity on the continent, along the way revealing Africa to be a psychological space as much as a physical territory; a state of mind as much as a physical location.
The participating artists are: Emmanuelle Andrianjafy, Sammy Baloji, Raphaël Barontini, Neil Beloufa, Girma Berta, Eric Gyamfi, Kiluanji Kia Henda, Lebohang Kganye, Namsa Leuba, Michael MacGarry, Sabelo Mlangeni, Mimi Cherono Ng'ok, Musa N Nxumalo, Ruth Ossai, Athi Patra Ruga and Michael Tsegaye.
What: Africa State of Mind
When: 29 September 2018 - 16 December 2018
Where: New Art Exchange in Nottingham, UK
Launch event: 28 September 2018, 6pm - midnight
More information about the exhibition here.
Africa State of Mind will tour to Impressions Gallery, Bradford in 2019.
Brazil
From 12-14 October Andrianjafy’s work will be featured at Valongo Festival Internacional da Imagem in Santos - São Paulo, Brazil
This festival creates room for critical dialogues and encourages alternative ways of thinking. How do we look and consume images? The third edition of the festival is situated at the historic neighbourhood of Valongo, Santos - São Paulo. During the festival the port area of Santos turns into a big arena where guests and the public discuss, reflect, deconstruct the different aspects of the production of images and contemporary visual narratives.
Presenting a wide range of works in a wide variety of media - photography, video, performance, sculpture, digital arts – Valongo Festival considers the extensive effects of the ubiquity of the image in contemporary artistic practices.
The festival is focused on the diffusion of visual culture and covers different aspects of the production of contemporary visual images and narratives. It wants to expand traditional definitions of image and challenges the comprehension of artistic practices when departing to the field of experimentation and research.
Valongo Festival is run by women-only. It’s free for all.
More information about Valongo Festival here.
