Témoin/Witness is focusing on the African metropolis or ‘megacity’. The exhibits reflect on immediate circumstances of this group of emerging photographers.

The images deal with a wide range of social issues that consider an inherited culture and history, as the photographers bear witness to the constant flux and changing cultures that define the ‘megacity’. Next location of the exhibition and the portfolio meeting are Kampala in August and Lagos in October 2013.

Witness/Témoin is the first exhibition by participants of the Photographers’ Portfolio Meeting including Sammy Baloji (DRC), Calvin Dondo (Zimbabwe), Sabelo Mlangeni (South Africa), Abraham Oghobase (Nigeria), Monique Pelser (South Africa) and Michael Tsegaye (Ethiopia).

The exhibition is co-curated by Monique Pelser and Sammy Baloji and was first realized as a fringe event during the photo biennale Rencontres Africaines de la la Photographie in Bamako, Mali 2011. It then went on tour and was exhibited in Maputo, Mozambique;  Abidjan, Ivory Coast;  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia;  Douala, Cameroon and is coming now to Kampala. Afterwards it will be shown in  Lagos, Nigeria; Nairobi, Kenya and Accra, Ghana.

The Photographers’ Portfolio Meetings were initiated by Simon Njami and the Goethe-Institut South Africa and are held once a year in different cities on the continent. Photographers meet in group sessions and on a one on one basis with curators such as Bisi Silva, CCA Lagos; Mark Sealy, Autograph; Chris Dercon, Tate Modern; Felix Hoffmann, CO Berlin; Collette Olaf, Foam; Kwezi Gule, the Johannesburg Art Gallery; John Fleetwood, Market Photo Workshop; Katrin Peters-Klaphake from Makerere Art Gallery/IHCR and other independent curators such as Frédérique Chapuis, Simon Njami and Akinbode Akinbiyi.

Opening on Thursday, 29th August, 2013 at 5pm at Makerere Art Gallery/IHCR

The exhibition is a collaboration between Goethe-Zentrum Kampala UGCS and Makerere Art Gallery/IHCR.

Next stops of the exhibition:

Kampala Uganda19 August – 23 September 2013

Lagos Nigeria 14 October – 18 November 2013

Nairobi Kenya 09 December – 13 January 2014

Accra Ghana 03 February – 11-March 2014

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