African Photography: For Whose Eyes?

March 15th-May 13th, 2012

The premise of this exhibition is that photography is a particularly potent tool in objectifying what is in its lens, and that over time, from the colonial period to the contemporary period, the photograph in Africa has changed from initially being an instrument of the European colonist — to the later studio “dream factories” in the cities — to the rich and complex work African photographers today. This exhibition hopes to raise questions about cultural and historical assumptions of Africa by looking closely at the work of 15 internationally-renowned contemporary African photographers.  The missionary postcards on exhibit provide a starting point to trace some of the stereotypes that still prevail below the surface of our consciousness, and make us aware that, by framing a culture from without, the meaning of that culture is distorted. The late nineteenth and earlier 20th century provided a coincidental juncture between missionary zeal, the rise of anthropology and the technique of photography. With its proliferation at that time, the missionary postcard not only fulfilled its contemporary goal to gain support for missionary work, but created profound images of difference between Europe and Africa, images however distorted, that remain imbedded in the cultural memory of our society. The major part of the exhibition is devoted to contemporary African artists who grapple with vanishing places, traditions and cultures, while defining new ones.  They combine humor, mystery, fact, fantasy, past and present, melding these modes of being to reclaim the terrain of African identity formerly defined by others. A catalogue accompanies the exhibition.
-Marie Costello

Artists Include: Philip Kwame Apagya (Ghana), Yto Barrada (Morocco), Nabil Boutros (Egypt), Samuel Fosso (Camaroon), David Goldblatt (South Africa), Seydou Keïta (Mali), Boubacar Touré Mandémory (Senegal), Zwelethu Mthethwa (South Africa), Grace Ndiritu (Kenya), Obie Oberholzer (South Africa), Berni Searle (South Africa), Malick Sidibé (Mali), Djibril Sy (Senegal), Guy Tillim (South Africa), and Iké Udé, (Nigeria)

Also Included in the Exhibition: 80 Missionary Postcards from Yale Divinity Library & scans from the South African magazine Drum