The 3rd edition of the Addis Foto Fest (AFF) will take place from Dec 1 – Dec 7, 2014.

Established in 2010, the Addis Foto Fest biannual is a photography festival directed by award winning photographer, curator and film director. Aida Muluneh. Produced by Desta for Africa (DFA), the weeklong international festival features exhibitions, portfolio review, conferences, projections and film screenings.

According to Aida Muluneh the main objective for the third edition of the Addis Foto Fest is to explore the notion of image through a global framework. In her statement announcing the third edition she states:

„At times, one thing that I have found to be limiting to the development of photography in Africa has been due to the fact that our vision has been set on producing content from and only for audiences within our borders or regions, while our aim should be towards exploring and promoting images from Africa to the global network. I have seen the tendency of becoming a big fish in a small pond and at times this can lead to meritocracy. Accordingly in the perspective of the Addis Foto Fest, our aim is always reflected in our passion to be curious and innovative.
So as we move into 2014, we are striving to grow the festival by attracting both new and returning audiences as well as partners for our weeklong program. We also want to engage our audience by providing various platforms for exploring the power and language of visual aesthetics as it relates to modern society. After all, an image is a thousand words and through Addis Foto Fest we strive to promote the global exchange of images in order to educate, inspire and foster understanding as it relates to Africa and the global community.“

– Aida Muluneh | Director/Founder | Addis Foto Fest

The exhibitions and events again will be spread throughout the different locations of the Ethiopian capital.

PROGRAMME:

Day 1 – Monday December 1, 2014

Festival Inauguration (by invitation only)
EXHIBITION: “VISIONS OF AFRICA”
1- 5 December , 2014
Sheraton Addis, Singing Fountain

Featuring photography, photo installations and video projections representing 16 countries from across Africa.

Featuring: Amina Zoubir (Algeria), Fabrice Monteiro (Benin), Laeila Adjovi (Benin), Saïdou Dicko (Burkina Faso), Jean Depara (DRC), George Senga (DRC), Christian Tundula (DRC), Eman Helal (Egypt), Ayenew Haileselassie (Ethiopia), Genaye Eshetu (Ethiopia), Hilina Mekonen (Ethiopia), Mekbib Taddesse (Ethiopia), Michael Fassil (Ethiopia), Meklit Mersha (Ethiopia), Hilina Abebe (Ethiopia), Naod Lemma (Ethiopia), Samuel Habtab (Ethiopia), Selamawit Fiseha (Ethiopia), Yonas Tadesse (Ethiopia), Tewodros Bekele (Ethiopia), Kebreab Demeke (Ethiopia), Mulugeta Ayene (Ethiopia), Netsanet Fekadu (Ethiopia), Daoud Aoulad-Syad (Morocco), Hassan Hajjaj (Morocco), Hicham Gardaf (Morocco), Humphrey Odero (Kenya), Jim Chuchu (Kenya), Joel Lukhovi (Kenya), Osborne Macharia (Kenya), Wangechi Mutu (Kenya), Bintou Camara (Mali), Malick Sidibé (Mali), Amadou Keita (Mali), Tiecora Ndaou (Mali), Emeka Ogboh (Nigeria) August Udoh (Nigeria), Tom Saater (Nigeria), Ray Daniels Okeugo (Nigeria), Jean Luc Dushime (Rwanda), Omar Victor Diop (Senegal), Mustafa Saeed (Somaliland),  Andrew Tshabangu (South Africa), Frank Marshall (South Africa), Lungile Zuma (South Africa), Philani Mazibuko (South Africa), Sibusiso Bheka (South Africa), Teboho Busa (South Africa), Kudzanai Chiurai (Zimbabwe)

Day 2 – Tuesday December 2, 2014

Portfolio Review (participants only)
9am-12:45
Alliance Ethno-Francaise

EXHIBITION: “THE AMERICAS: THE UNITED STATES & LATIN AMERICA”
2 – 8 December 8, 2014
Nabtional Museum of Ethiopia
6pm-8pm Opening

Featuring a collection from North and South America, the exhibition is an exploration of various segments of self-expression, daily life and journalistic approaches to photography.

Featuring: Angélica Dass (Brazil), Keisha Scarville (Guyana), Nikki Kahn (Guyana), Roshini Kempadoo (Guyana), Sandra Brewster (Guyana), Gaston Saldana (Mexico), Alexis Peskine (Brazil/France), Eli Reed (United States), Joni Kabana (United States), Russell Frederick (United States), Simone Leigh (United States), Jemal Countess (USA), Johnette Iris Stubbs (USA).

Day 3 –Wednesday December 3, 2014

Portfolio Review (participants only)
9am-12:45
Alliance Ethno-Francaise

Film Screening
“Memories of a Mexican”
10am-12pm
National Museum Conference Hall

EXHIBITION: “THE VISUAL MIGRATION” & “THE ASIA” COLLECTIONS WITH SELECTIONS FROM THE INDIAFRICA PHOTO COMPETITION
3 – 9 December  2014
Ale School of Fine Art and Design, Addis Ababa University
6pm-8pm Opening

A wide range of photography showcasing photographers who have produced their collection in various parts of the world. This exhibition aims to explore the notion of the other as it relates to capturing images in a place that’s outside of the photographer’s place of origin.

Featuring: Kirk Ellingham (England), Kai Löffelbein (Germany), François-Xavier Gbré (France), Ania Gruca (France), Pascal Kerouche (Germany), David Creedon (Ireland), Clara Vannucci (Italy), Gianluigi Guercia (Italy) Malin Fezehai (Sweden), Luo Dan (China), Ren Hang (Chi- na), Jing Tang (China), Zhang Kechun (China), Zhang Xiao (China) and Mahesh Shantaram (India).

DAY 4 – Thursday December 4, 2014

Portfolio Review (participants only)
9am-12:45pm
Alliance Ethio-Francaise

EXHIBITION: “WITNESS: IMAGES FROM THE MIDDLE EAST”
December 4- December 7, 2014
Opening: 6pm – 8pm
Guramayle Art Center

A collection of images that showcases photographers from Jordan, Iran and Yemen. The exhibition aims to showcase personal accounts that are often not seen in the mass media.

Featuring: Abbas Hajimohammedi (Iran), Tanya Habjouqa (Jordan) and Boushra Almutawakel (Yemen)

DAY 5 – Friday December 5, 2014

Film Screening: “Finding Vivian Maier”
3pm-5pm
Ale School of Fine Art and Design

and

EXHIBITION: “HISTORY IN PROGRESS UGANDA” AND VIDEO ART PROJECTIONS FROM ACROSS AFRICA
5 – 10 December 10, 2014
Opening :6pm-8pm
National Theatre Gallery of Ethiopia

HIPUganda is an archival platform that was initiated by Rumanzi Canon and Andrea Stultiens in 2011. It locates photo collections in Uganda, digitizes them and shares them online in an attempt to diversify Uganda’s historiography and make the way the past was documented wider accessible. Specific collections and topics are dealt with in exhibitions and a series of books under the name Ebifananyi (Likenesses).
Featuring: Musa Katuramu (Uganda), Rumanzi Canon (Uganda)

Video art projection : Amina Zoubir (Alegria), Saidou Dicko (Burkina Faso), Tiecoura Ndaou (Mali), Emeka Ogboh (Nigeria) and Wangechi Mutu (Kenya)

DAY 6 / ADDIS FOTO FEST CONFERENCE – „OBSERVATION, ANTICIPATION AND APPLICATION: PHOTOGRAPHY IN AFRICA AND BEYOND.”

Saturday December 6, 2014, 10AM-12PM
Ale School of Fine Art and Design

The AFF conference is a one day panel discussion on the photography market, which offers the perspective of the shifting dynamics of photography in Africa and the world.

Featuring: Simon Njami (Curator, art critic, author Cameron/France), Azu Nwagbogu (Curator/ Lagos Photo festival/Nigeria), Michel du Cille (Photojournalist/United States) Eli Reed (Photographer/ Educator)/United States.

DAY 7 /SUDDEN FLOWERS COLLECTIONS 

Sunday December 7, 2014
Opening: 11am-3pm
Galani Art Cafe
Curated by Eric Gottesman

“If I were an artist,” wrote one of the members of the Addis Ababa-based photographic collective Sudden Flowers, “I would have recorded these things and displayed them as if they really happened, as fact.”

Formed in response to the AIDS epidemic in Ethiopia, the Sudden Flowers collective attempted, over many years, to comprehend the trauma they lived through. Together, they produced photographs, videos, local installations and performances that describe the unimaginable, terrifying and transformative psychological odyssey of losing loved ones to an unknown and stigmatized disease.

This book, Sudden Flowers, gathers the collective’s creative output over the course of a decade and includes images of children’s most intimate memories and fantasies along with painful letters the children wrote to their deceased parents that describe their loss. These first-person narratives reveal an experience of grief, and of Ethiopia, rarely before seen in images.

Using photography to work through their own experiences, to visualize their future and to recreate dreams and traumatic events from their lives, these children exorcised their own sorrow and, in the process, brought light to a difficult subject.

www.addisfotofest.com