In a time of widespread political, social and economic uncertainty and change, what role does photography have in reflecting the world we live in? With contributions from leading curators, photographers, artists and writers, this event gives insight into the most urgent issues facing practitioners today.

Featuring contributions from curator and publisher Rahaab Allana, Mariama Attah (Head of Exhibitions, Open Eye), curator and lecturer Jane'a Johnson, and Azu Nwagbogu (Founder and Director, African Artists' Foundation). Introduction by art historian Anne-Marie Beckmann (Director, Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation and curator of the Art Collection Deutsche Börse), with The Photographers' Gallery's recently appointed Director Shoair Mavlian moderating. 

Biographies

Rahaab Allana is Curator and Publisher at Alkazi Foundation for the Arts in New Delhi, a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society (London) and was previously Honorary Research Associate at the University College, London. He has curated and contributed to several publications and exhibitions on photography from South Asia and its transnational histories. He has served on the advisory committees/juries of various cultural fora including the Prix Pictet Award (London/Switzerland/Paris); as well as the Editorial Board of the Trans-Asia Photography (TAP) Review, University of Michigan. Rahaab is the Founding/Managing Editor of PIX; Founder of the first app for photography from South Asia, ASAP/Art; has guest edited volumes for the Lalit Kala Akademi, Marg Magazine and recently an issue for Aperture Magazine on photography from the subcontinent, 2021. He has edited the first ever Reader on Image Practices in South Asia titled Unframed, due to be released in 2023, co-published with Harper Collins India.

Mariama Attah is a photography curator, writer and lecturer with a particular interest in overlooked histories, and understanding how photography and visual culture can be used to amplify under-represented voices. Mariama is Curator of Open Eye Gallery and LOOK Biennial, Liverpool. She was previously Assistant Editor of Foam Magazine. Prior to this, she was Curator at Photoworks, where she was responsible for developing and curating Brighton Photo Biennial and was Commissioning and Managing Editor of Photoworks Annual.

Jane’a Johnson is the former Artistic Director of Foam Fotografiemuseum in Amsterdam. Her work and writings have focused on archives, museums, photography, race and the visual culture of the African Diaspora. Previously, she was Assistant Professor of Theory of Art + Design and History, Philosophy + Social Sciences at Rhode Island School of Design. Johnson received her PhD in Modern Culture and Media from Brown University, where she directed the Photographic Archives Research Group. Her installation project, Past Made Present: Dutch Shadows in the Black Atlantic, opened at Rhode Island School of Design in Summer 2022.

Azu Nwagbogu is the Founder and Director of African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), a non-profit organisation based in Lagos, Nigeria. Nwagbogu was appointed as the Interim Director/Head Curator of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art in South Africa from June 2018 to August 2019. Nwagbogu also serves as Founder and Director of Lagos Photo Festival, an annual international arts festival of photography held in Lagos. He is the publisher of Art Base Africa, a virtual space to discover and learn about contemporary art from Africa and its diasporas. Nwagbogu is a curator with a special interest in future museology.

Details on how to access the talk will be confirmed upon registration. Please check your junk folders if you haven't received an email from TPG confirming your place.

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