Other Worlds
An exhibition by Tierney Bamako Award Recipient Moussa John Kalapo
Opening
Wednesday
27 June 2018
18h00
The Photo Workshop Gallery
The Market Photo Workshop, in partnership with the Tierney Family Foundation, is pleased to announce the exhibition of the Inaugural 2015 Tierney Bamako Award winner Moussa John Kalapo.
The Tierney Bamako Award is structured as a fellowship to recognize photography on the African continent by providing the winner with the financial and infrastructural support necessary to build on their existing photography expertise, and develop a new body of work. The winner is selected by judges from Recontres de Bamako. The inaugural winner, Moussa John Kalapo, was given the opportunity to produce a new body of work with the guidance of established mentors in South Africa and in Mali.
Other Worlds
More than ever, the world is confronted with news of African nationals migrating to ‘other worlds’. Moussa John Kalapo’s photo essay redirects us to the everyday anxieties of those who remain behind. Moussa represents lived experience through the story of Saba, a fellow Malian national living in Bamako. Saba carries a number of ‘self imposed expectations’ and aspirations that are represented in his relationship with land, familial structures, the architecture of home, spirituality, and the everyday – outside of the usual parameters of spectacle. Saba’s thoughts, wishes, dreams and anxieties move through and become one with the space. This is his world, which he is making, negotiating and remaking.
About Moussa John Kalapo
Moussa Kalapo was born in 1983 in Bamako, Mali. After studying accounting and computer science at the vocational training institute of Sikasso and Bamako, in 2010 he enrolled at the Center for Training in Photography (CFP) in Bamako. Kalapo was commissioned to carry out photojournalism assignments for NGOs such as Swisscontact, One Word and Spana Mali. He has also participated in photography workshops and group exhibitions in Mali and France. Kalapo is currently working on the project NEH Mali-Photo, for the preservation, digitization and archiving of the heritage of significant African photographers Malick Sidibe, Abderahamane Sakaly, Tijane Sitou and Adama Kouyate.
He was selected for the Pan-African Exhibition of the 10th edition of the Bamako Biennale of Photography, organized by Bisi Silva of the Center for Contemporary Art Lagos, which will feature his latest project “The Metaphor of Time”. Kalapo is the winner of the 2nd Innovation Prize at the 3rd edition of Quinzaine de la Photographie in Benin in 2016 for his series “Modern Slavery’’ and is a contributor to the world’s largest image bank, Getty Images, and Co-founder and active member of the association Collectif Images Conceptuelles.
About the Tierney Family Foundation
The Tierney Family Foundation was founded over 20 years ago in the US to support a range of domestic and international causes from education, supporting emerging artists, women’s rights, environmental issues, sports and leadership development all on a global scale. Collectively, the family remains active, passionate and dedicated to affecting positive change both through business and philanthropy, with particular focus on Africa.
About Rencontres De Bamako
Organised by the Malian Ministry of Culture and Institut français, the Bamako Encounters is the first and principal international platform dedicated to African photography on the continent. A veritable platform for discovery, exchanges and interaction, the Bamako Encounters are known as a meeting place for African photographers and other art professionals from across the world.
For more information, please contact:
Mika Conradie
Manager: Public Programmes and Development
T +27 (0) 11 834 1444
E-mail: mikac@marketphotoworkshop.co.za
Market Photo Workshop
c/o Market Square
138 Lilian Ngoyi St
Entrance at Margaret Macingana Street
Newtown
Johannesburg
info@marketphotoworkshop.co.za
www.marketphotoworkshop.co.za
The Market Photo Workshop is a division of The Market Theatre Foundation.
