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. It will take place in Bamako, from 31st October to 31st December 2015.

The Executive Director of the Bamako Encounters is Samuel Sidibe, Director of the National Museum of Mali, who has been directing it since 2009. The Artistic Director of the 10th Bamako Encounters is Bisi Silva, an independent curator and the Director, Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA, Lagos).

The Pan-African Exhibition, resulting from a call for applications and the selection of artists representing all of the African continent and its Diaspora, is part of the Biennial’s central presentation. In 2015 the title is « TELLING TIME »

The call for applications to the Pan-African Exhibition of the 10th edition of the Bamako Encounters is open for African photographers and video artists from 15th January to 30th March 2015.

10th Edition of the Bamako Encounters

The forthcoming 2015 Bamako biennial marks the institution’s ten-year anniversary and provides an opportunity to critically reassess and propose new possibilities for discussing recent developments in photographic practice across Africa and the diaspora. This is all the more necessary given the increasingly expansive uses to which photographic mediums are put by artists on the continent as they attempt to go beyond reportage, documentary and street photography by moving toward more conceptual and interdisciplinary practices.

Increasingly contemporary artists have become preoccupied with analysing how images come to document and represent realitybyputting pressure on conventional understandings of the relationship between images and time. With “time” as its overarching theme, the 10th edition of the Bamako biennial invites artists to consider and question the idea of time in order to propose new ways of thinking about the past, debating the present, and imagining the future.

In light of the recent traumatic experiences and threats to Mali’s sovereignty, as well as other upheavals across Africa and the diaspora such as in the USA and Brazil artists are encouraged to consider the role of time as political instrument, as social construct, and as a site of possibility. We welcome projects exploring time in relation to ideas of reenactment, play, storytelling, installation and archival intervention. Submitted artworks and proposals may draw on a range of lens-based media including photography, video, film, and animation.

SPECIFIC RULES FOR THE CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

1/ Introduction

The Ministry of Culture of Mali and Institut français, co-producers of the Bamako Encounters, open the « Call for Applications to the Pan-African Exhibition of the Bamako Encounters 2015». This call applies photography and video and other lens based media.

2/ The 10th Edition of the Bamako Encounters

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.

It will take place in Bamako, from 31st October to 31st December 2015.

The Executive Director of the Bamako Encounters is Samuel Sidibe, Director of the National Museum of Mali.

The Artistic Director of the 10th Bamako Encounters is Bisi Silva, an independent curator and the Director, Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA, Lagos).

The Pan-African Exhibition forms the core of the Biennial. It takes place at the National Museum of Mali and is curated by Bisi Silva. The artists are selected through this call.

The Pan-African Exhibition is part of the Biennial’s central event : « TELLING TIME »

3/ Conditions for eligibility

This call goes out to:

– all photographers and video and film artists in Africa, regardless of where they live,
– the candidates must propose a selection of works, photography or video, linked to the theme of the 10th Edition of the Bamako Encounters : « TELLING TIME »,
– the candidates that practice art professionally,
– Applications by individuals and/or collectives can be submitted.

4/ Registration conditions

The application for the Pan-African Exhibition of the 10th Bamako Encounters includes :

For Photographers :

• 15 to 25 photographs en JPG 300DPI (at least 50/60 cm) with the name of the artist, the title and year in the name of each file, forming part of a body of work.
• A curriculum vitae and a short biography (maximum 10 lines / 1000 characters including spaces)
• An ID photo
• A critical text explaining the artist’s view of the Relationship between the proposed works and the theme of the 10th Bamako Encounters,
• A scanned copy of the applicant’s valid ID or passport
• A bank identity statement indicating the applicant’s name, address and bank number

For Video/Film Artists :

• A selection of your films with your name, title and and its duration
• A document summarising the list of films sent with the title, length and a short synopsis, and possibly a link to an Internet website where the videos can be watched,
• Three visuals in JPG 300DPI 20/30 cm taken from each video proposed by the appliquant,
• A curriculum vitae and a short biography (maximum 10 lines / 1000 characters including spaces),
• An ID photo,
• A critical text explaining the artist’s view of the Relationship between the proposed works and the theme of the 10th Bamako Encounters,
• A scanned copy of the applicant’s valid ID or passport,
• A bank identity statement indicating the applicant’s name, address and bank number.

5/ Selection process

The applicants must fill the application form and download the requested files on the following link, before the 30th March 2015, midnight :

http://ifprog.institutfrancais.com/fr/ddp/show/137/Rencontres-de-Bamako-2015

In case of difficulties to connect or to download your files, please write before the 15th March to:

Samuel Sidibé : musee@afribonemali.net
or Valerie Lesbros : valerie.lesbros@institutfrancais.com

The final selection will be made by selection committee including the Artistic Director Bisi Silva and chaired by the Encounters’ Executive Officer, Samuel Sidibé. This committee’s decisions will be final and unappealable.

Results will be announced by e-mail in April 2015.

The applicants shall undertake, if they are selected, to be easily contacted by email or phone and to answer as soon as possible to the technical and administrative requests of the organizers.

6/ Nature of assistance

The Bamako Encounters is responsible for the production costs of the exhibition :
> for photographers: prints and frames of the images selected OR projectors, screen and monitors for slideshows.
> for video artists: projection material

The selected applicants will receive a payment of royalties for their participation in the Biennal and one copy of the Bamako Encounters catalogue.

7/ Deadline for applications : March 30, 2015

http://rencontres-bamako.com/