The Courier

Fanie Jason (Afrique du Sud), Carters on the Way to the epping scrap yard, Série Cape Carting, Biennial of Photography, Bamako 2005.

© Fanie Jason

The 7th African Photography Encounters is one of those all-too-rare initiatives for promoting African creativity, an opportunity for all those in South and North with a keen interest in photography.

As with video, where digital technology is often used to manipulate professional photographs, fine art photography, expressive photography or, simply, art photography are sectors where it is difficult for Africans to reap any financial rewards. The reason for this is that they are too far away from the major publishing houses, exhibition halls and distribution networks. This also means that they have difficulties in meeting fellow professionals and this makes the African Photography Encountersall the more important.

Today, professional photography-related projects are very thin on the ground across the continent with the exception of South Africa, where many artists and organisations operate. There’s some activity in Mali, Botswana, Gabon, Zimbabwe and Tunisia, but that’s about it.

For the 7th Encounters in Mali’s capital, the efforts involved in mounting, organising and supervising the event relied heavily on Paris-based experts working in cooperation with the Maison Africaine de la Photographie in Bamako. As one local visitorremarked, "we used to watch them taking photographs of us, now they help us to look at our own photographs".

As part of the event, CULTURES FRANCE has published a detailed 269-page catalogue, in French and English, a unique guide to the discovery of what can only be termed a photographic record of cultural diversity. This is a guide that will be of great use in the future, as well as, a record of the event.

The objective of the theme for 2007, "Inside/Outside the city", was to provide a variety of perspectives and produce revealing images of love and peace. It is Africa, Europe, America, the world, photographed by Africans.

An African city is a confusing labyrinth for any visitor looking for familiar bearings. Its rules are invented as it goes along, depending on where the wind blows. And it is the wind that creates the city, which, in spite of everything, works. Why? For it is made of flesh and blood. (Simon Njami, Curator General of the Photography Encounters in Bamako)

The advantage of this type of event is that it gives an opportunity for photographers to exhibit works of the highest standard side by side. Selected by Simon Njami Curator, General of the Photography Encounters and his associate, Samuel Sidibé, Director of Mali's National Museum, exhibits from 16 African nations were put on show. A specially prepared site in Bamako was used as the venue where artists brought together photographs and videos to create an amazing series of presentations.

However, questions crop up when trying to pin down the nationalities of exhibitors. Some of the photographers at the exhibition live in London, Paris and New York, only returning to their native countries from time to time. So what does the term African photography now mean? Is it really African? Is it more African than the photography of individuals of Western origin who have spent half their lives in Africa and are committed to watching and discovering African life? And what about African photographers who are less well-off, who have no choice but to remain in the land of their ancestors?

The Bamako Encounters exhibition was supported by the Jean-Paul Blachère Foundation, named after its creator, who, from his artist’s residence in Apt, France, has spent many years turning the spotlight on the works of ground-breaking African artists. In photography, he is credited with the discovery of Saïdou Dicko. This award-winning photographer from Burkina Faso won another prize this year, this time from the Organisation Internationale de la Franconphonie (OIF).  

Not to be outdone, Bamako's EU-sponsored (CFP), backed by the Brussels-based Contraste Association, played host to a joint-training scheme involving 18 trainees from Mali and Belgium. This Africalia-sponsored initiative resulted in the creation of 200 photographs, all of which were exhibited and projected in various parts of the city. At the same time, the Cinéma Numérique Ambulant took a digital photographic studio around Bamako’s markets to record the festive atmosphere. Hundreds of portraits of inhabitants were then connected via a computer to landscapes from around the world. This project was a huge success, especially when images of local people were projected onto a giant screen, with a background of the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids or the Great Wall of China.

The organisers also invited young photographers from Finland to show their work, creating an opportunity for photographers from different nations to exchange ideas and compare techniques.

The winners:

• Seydou Keïta Prize:
  Calvin Dondo, Zimbabwe
• European Union Prize:
  Aïda Muluneh, Ethiopia
• Organisation Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie (OIF) Prize:
  Saïdou Dicko, Burkina Faso
• Prix Elan of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD):
  Mohamed Camara, Mali
• Prix de l’Image:
  Amal Kenawy, Egypt
• Special Jury Prize:
  Nontsikelelo "Lolo" Veleko, South Africa
• Afrique en Créations Prize:
  Sammy Baloji, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Fondation Blachère Prize:
  Adama Bamba (first prize)
   

The African Photography Encounterswas co-produced by the Maison Africaine de la Photographie, Mali's Ministry of Culture and CULTURES FRANCE, with the support of the European Union and the backing of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Organisation Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie (OIF).