The Courier

The history of African photography is closely linked to the history of Bamako’s Rencontres africaines de la photographie, which have brought it to the attention of the public at large. The Bamako Biennial and the research led by Revue Noire have launched major personalities such as Seydou Keita and Malick Sidibé.

Body These authors have been introduced in the art market by art collectors and dealers, who have been able, on the one hand, to create a big interest in them but, at the same time, have strengthened the ‘Sixties-Seventies’ image of African photography, defining it as a “studio photography” devoted especially to the representation of the human figure. It is worth emphasising that in the last editions, Simon Njami’s direction has opened the Biennial to stylistic innovations and international participation and has tried to reach the local public through the ‘off’ program.

New ways of promoting African artists

But Bamako is not the only showcase for African artists. In the last two to three years new ways of “launching” African photographers have emerged. Most of them are blogs and websites in which the photographers can autonomously publish their photos, biographies and artistic statements.

The process does not employ a vertical structure, with the dealer/curator/collector (most of the time Western) choosing an author, saving him from oblivion and bringing his/her artworks into the market: the blog structure works much more like internet, like a continuous exchange among nodes of a non-hierarchical and unlimited platform. This is a small revolution that the Internet has brought to the African art system, to its capability of self-definition and self-promotion, even if from an economic perspective the results will be only visible in the mid and long term, in contrast to the power of classic market operators.

One of the most active and dynamic projects is Afrique in Visu, which started in October 2006 in Mali, in partnership with the École de Photographie de Bamako. The organisers are the French researcher Jeanne Mercier and the photographer Baptiste de Ville d’Avray. The lack of structures, training and of strong and coherent cultural policies are the main problems that this project aims to face by organising workshops and artists’ residencies in Africa and creating a strong web community.

Creative communities and the Internet

Besides the forum, what seems to work quite well is the gathering of information on young African photographers and on the most important initiatives like exhibitions, workshops and lectures (there are approximately 2500 site-visitors per day). Regularly the focus is on one author’s personal website in particular, trying to taking him out of the huge World Wide Web and stimulating remarks about his works. Furthermore, the website includes a very interesting portfolio of images taken in Africa by African and non-African artists: Hip hop & société (in Brazzaville) by Badouin Mouanda; Architecture sans architecte (Mali) by Alioune Ba; Brazzaville au quotidien, by the Collectif génération Elili …

“Our main goals are the achievement of professional self-training through the exchange of information and know-how” says Jeanne Mercier “and good visibility especially in the African context, that necessarily crosses African borders. Moreover, we work on their nomination for festivals or residencies. Thanks to Afrique in Visu many authors have been contacted by magazines asking for their pictures or for ad hoc photo-reportages.”

Do authors have easy access to web services? “Most of the authors do not have computers and a private internet access account. Many of them digitally edit and publish their pictures at the media centers located inside the French cultural centers, in internet cafes, or in art and photography schools.” The digital divide is still very big but, anyhow, these authors’ energy and their ability to figure it out allows them to reach the international scene.

* Director of the Italy-based journal Africa e Mediterraneo