草场地摄影季-阿尔勒在北京的项目之一
主旨：后殖民时代的非洲摄影以及它对非洲国家和海外的非洲人产生的全球化的影响
展期：2011 年4月23日 至5 月22 日
展地：北京草场地红一号F座荔空间
主办：安哥拉—澳门协会
承办：北京荔空间
策展人：亚旺•安柏（Awam Amkpa）
联合策展人：玛达拉•希雷尔（Madala Hilaire）、顾振清

 《非洲：你看我，我看你！》摄影展描绘非洲摄影的历史，诉说这段历史如何影响了非洲以外人士对非洲及其不同离散族群所抱有的幻想。那些照片、那些展现非洲人民主观性的文件、历史档案及正在衍生的社会，有助理解影像对解放非洲所作出的贡献。一系列的照片揭示了殖民主义和新殖民主义非洲社会的病理特征，描述了一些从高压国家中解脱出来的非洲族群。其中一些照片记录了非洲人民参与国家事务以及后民族自愿社会的形成，记录了他们如何以自愿社会为手段争取决策权。非洲不仅是一片空间，更是牵动非洲大陆内外，如欧洲、美洲和亚洲人众多情感的地方，让非洲艺术家可安然置身其中。这些艺术家现身于家国以外的展览场馆，在那些近期由非洲以外的摄影师拍摄非洲及非洲人民的照片上，留下标记。再者，他们的出现，促进了非洲人民之间，讨论有关自我表现对家国的意义，亦对有关自我表现的互文对话，起了催化作用。
 《非洲：你看我，我看你！》摄影展在展示非洲摄影历史的同时，再次刷新了人们对非洲社会的认识。此次展览由里斯本当代艺术中心和AFRICA.CONT发起。在经历了纽约、里斯本、安卡拉、拉各斯、佛罗伦萨的巡展之后，主办方安哥拉—澳门协会选择北京荔空间为中国巡展的展场，并邀请纽约大学提西艺术学院的教授亚旺•安柏(Awam Amkpa)为策展人，玛达拉•希雷尔（Madala Hilaire）、顾振清为联合策展人，担纲由此次展览策展工作，并使其成为“2011草场地摄影季”的一个重要组成部分。草场地摄影季与国际知名的阿尔勒摄影节为期三年的合作，打造了一个备受瞩目的“阿尔勒在北京”之“2011草场地摄影季”展示平台。在此全方位的平台上，《非洲：你看我，我看你！》摄影展将有助于中国与非洲交流关系的不断深化，在中国人民与非洲人民的经济交往迅速升温的21世纪，提升彼此之间的文化认知。
附录一：
《非洲：我看你， 你看我！》摄影展（AFRICA: SEE YOU, SEE ME）
展期：2011 年4月23日 至5 月22 日
展地：北京草场地红一号F座荔空间
策展人：亚旺•安柏(Awam Amkpa)
联合策展人：玛达拉•希雷尔（Madala Hilaire）、顾振清
主办：安哥拉-澳门协会
承办：北京荔空间
出品人：AFRICA CONT，里斯本
协办：纽约大学非洲研究机构
组织及制作管理：Manuel C S (Lines Lab ltd)
制作协调：Clara Brito、Joana Correia da Sliva
北京执行团队：Leo de Boisgisson (86/33 LINK)、Marie Terrieux (Shuang Culture ltd)

附录二：
北京荔空间位于北京草场地艺术区，是一个由策展人顾振清和杨荔与2008年创立的独立的策展人空间。北京荔空间致力于推广当代艺术，支持中国和国际的实验艺术活动，探索全球化语境下的中国视野及价值观。（www.li-space.com）

附录三：
草场地摄影季与国际知名的阿尔勒摄影节为期三年的合作，打造了一个备受瞩目的“阿尔勒在北京”之“2011草场地摄影季”展示平台。（www.ccdphotospring.com）

附录四：
展览主打文：
非洲：你看我，我看你！
——后殖民时代的非洲摄影及其在展现非洲和其离散族群所带来之全球性影响
策展人亚旺•安柏 (Awam Amkpa)
 在西非的大地上，由木制而成的“妈咪卡车(Mammy Wagons)”，飞越路面的洞坑，避开断头路，以时速超过56公里，昂然走遍陌生的国境，尾随而来是一幕幕鲜艳夺目的影像。这些运载工具的名字“妈咪卡车”，源自市集的女贩，她们把食用农作物，如山芋、西红柿、洋葱、车前草和棕榈油，从家国运往其它国家。
 横跨国界的“妈咪卡车”，除了肩负运送食粮的重任，还是活生生的广告牌，车身上饰有富艺术性的题字和绘画。其内容可为受欢迎的电影、国家性标志或是非洲的民间故事，并配上以英语或法语书写的标题、格言式智能语言。典型的语句继有“既然没有目的地，何必急着走”、“正义属贫穷者的财富”和“这世界不仅为你而存在”。每当“妈咪卡车”以高速奔驰于年久失修的道路上，摇晃地绕过陌生的弯角时，它们车身上的广告，为路人和旁观者添上点滴思绪，其中带有渴望、挫折感和寄望有朝一天，社会将变得更好。
 很多年前，我在尼日尼亚的道路上，看见一辆“妈咪卡车”。这次展览的题名《非洲：你看我，我看你！》，便是取自它车身上的插图。当时那卡车越过我们乘坐的车辆，它的车尾还喷出气味难闻的柴油黑烟。我的视野里，长久只看到一双眼睛，置于一幅绘有油彩条纹、轮廓鲜明的非洲地图中。在地图上，标示着“你看我，我看你！”的字句。那卡车掠过时，唤起了我们的思潮。我们安坐在舒适的车上，开始沉思。我们身为非洲人，是如何看待自己、想象自己；同时，希望别人如何看待我们。
 在这前提下，我运用摄影实践，展现非洲人民在不同方面的自我表现，并指出这种自我表现方式，对塑造非洲摄影的当代风格，有着与日俱增的影响力。非洲摄影师从其殖民者身上，承继了他们拍摄非洲人民样板照片的特色。纵使非洲人民存活于历史中，成为历史里的拍摄对象，但却没有操控历史的能力。这试图把非洲摄影变得具客观性的范例，为非洲人民带来了一种奇特的存在或不存在状况。但随非洲人民为了拍照而开始在摄影机前摆出各式姿势后，情况有了变化。他们好像在说：“摄影机必须看见我，因为我想让别人看得见”。
 《非洲：你看我，我看你！》摄影展描绘非洲摄影的历史，诉说这段历史如何影响了非洲以外人士对非洲及其不同离散族群所抱有的幻想。那些照片、那些展现非洲人民主观性的文件、历史档案及正在衍生的社会，有助理解影像对解放非洲所作出的贡献。一系列的照片揭示了殖民主义和新殖民主义非洲社会的病理特征，描述了一些从高压国家中解脱出来的非洲族群。其中一些照片记录了非洲人民参与国家事务以及后民族自愿社会的形成，记录了他们如何以自愿社会为手段争取决策权。非洲不仅是一片空间，更是非洲大陆内，欧洲、美洲和亚洲中，有着众多触动情感的地方，让非洲艺术家可安然置身其中。这些艺术家现身于家国以外的展览场馆，在那些近期由非洲以外的摄影师拍摄非洲及非洲人民的照片上，留下标记。再者，他们的出现，促进了非洲人民之间，讨论有关自我表现对家国的意义，亦对有关自我表现的互文对话，起了催化作用。
 《非洲：你看我，我看你！》摄影展由三部份组成：
 第一部份：呈现在照相馆里拍摄的作品和其它照片，内容讲述非洲人民尝试融入所移居的城市环境。在整体上，表现一众非洲摄影家如何去操控、适应和摆脱，前殖民统治者遗留下来的框架装置及传统摄影手法。那些由摄影家施度•基达(Seydou Keita)、奥杰克勒(Okhai Ojeikere)、马默都•马巴耶(Mamadou Mbaye)、马利克•西迪贝(Malick Sidibe)和尼尔•奥巴达 (Nii Obadai)拍得的黑白照，充分表露摄影师与拍摄对象，在共同合作把非洲固有的不同空间和｢自我｣刻印在照片上的过程中，彼此之间的凝重对话。其它触及的主题包括非洲的城市和社会结构、仍在形成中的小区、由非洲大陆不同地区摄影家，在照相馆以外拍下有关｢样子｣的作品。
 第二部份：展示早期人种志风格的人像相片，把非洲想象为一片荒漠，欧洲的原始“另一方”散居于这片大地之上。我们还用上重新解读的伎俩，使这些照片成为摄影术历史的主角。这段历史本身就是工业化社会的重要产物，界定什么为之进展，同时亦在某些方面，建构了所谓进展之核心及其周边历史。
 第三部份：展示非洲以外摄影师的作品，以当代非洲及其人民的照片为主。由于这些摄影师跟非洲的艺术家保持对话，他们的作品使非洲的影响范围得以扩展，让非洲人民拥有更多机会，成为历史里的拍摄对象。
 好像我在尼日尼亚路遇上的“妈咪卡车”般，这些照片跟其它部份的作品，一同向非洲人民及全世界说一声：看见你，看见我。
 

An Exhibition of 2011 Caochangdi PhotoSpring Festival
POSTCOLONIAL AFRICAN PHOTOGRAPHY AND ITS GLOBAL INFLUENCE OF REPRESENTING AFRICA AND ITS DIASPORA.
Dates: from 23 April 2011 to 22 May 2011
Venue: Li-space, Red No.1-F, Caochangdi, Beijing, China.
Presented by: Angola – Macau Association
Hosted by: Li-space, Beijing
Curator: Awam Amkpa
Co-Curator: Madala Hilaire, Gu Zhenqing

AFRICA: SEE YOU, SEE ME! portrays the history of African photography and also its influence on non-African imaginings of Africa and the African diaspora in all their diversity. Together, the photographs are texts of African subjectivities, archives of history and societies in the making, and methods for understanding how images contribute to emancipation. They critique the pathologies of postcolonial and neocolonial Africa by depicting the continent’s communities disentangling themselves from repressive nation states. While some of the photographs document the participation of Africans in state affairs, others portray the formation of post-national voluntary communities as tools of empowerment. Africa is more than a place. It is also in the many spaces of sensibility within and beyond the continent – in Europe, the Americas, and Asia -- that African artists pry open to install their presence. Their interventions in exhibition halls beyond the continent of their heritage have made a mark on recent photographs of Africa and Africans by non African photographers. Moreover, they have spurred intra-African, inter-textual dialogues about self-representation in Africa itself.

AFRICA: SEE YOU, SEE ME! Portrays the history of African photography and also its influence on non-African imaginings of Africa and the African diaspora in all their diversity. The exhibition was the result of a proposal made by Lisbon’s centre of contemporary arts, AFRICA.CONT to Awam Amkpa, the exhibition’s curator, and professor at Tisch School of the Arts at the New York University. After touring New York, Lisbon, Accra, Lagos and Florence, the Macau- Angola Association invited Awam Amkpa to bring the exhibition to Li-Space as part of the 2011 Caochangdi PhotoSpring of Arles in Beijing. The Macau – Angola Association, believes that it is important to promote a cultural exchange between Africa and China given the today’s ever more strong economical relation.

Caochangdi PhotoSpring Festival (http://www.ccdphotospring.com/ccdphotospring/index.html)
Is a platform entirely devoted to photography, a three-year collaboration with the most important international photography festival, Les Rencontres d’Arles.

Li-space (Beijing)
(http://www.li-space.com)
Li-space is a curator space established in 2008 by curator Gu Zhenqing and Yang Li, and is part of the Caochangdi Art District in Beijing. Li-space promotes experimental art and the exporting of a Chinese vision and values to a global community
AFRICA: SEE YOU, SEE ME!
POSTCOLONIAL AFRICAN PHOTOGRAPHY AND ITS GLOBAL INFLUENCE OF REPRESENTING AFRICA AND ITS DIASPORA
by curator Awam Amkpa

Wooden framed vehicles known as Mammy Wagons fly through potholes and blind corners into uncertain landscapes across West Africa, at speeds well above the 56 k.m.h. (kilometers per hour) emblazoned on their tails.
They derive their name from market women who transport food crops like yams, tomatoes, onions, plantains, and palm oil across their home countries and into other nations.
Besides discharging the important function of ferrying much needed food across nations, these Mammy Wagons serve as billboards for artistic sign writing and paintings. These paintings might feature popular films, national symbols, or interpretations of African folktales. Captions or even gnomic statements written in English or French accompany the images. Statements such as “No Destination, Why Hurry”, “Justice is the Poor man’s Wealth”, “The World is not for you alone”, are typical. Indeed, as the Mammy Wagons speed across poorly maintained roads and careen around uncertain corners, their billboards offer readers and onlookers a canvas of desires, frustrations, and hopes for a better society.
Africa: See You, See Me takes its name from the artwork on a Mammy Wagon that I saw on a Nigerian road many years ago. The truck overtook the car in which I was riding, spurting a dark smelly smoke from its diesel fuel, and leaving us with the lasting image of two eyes framed by a paint-streaked map of Africa. Within the etching of Africa’s map, nestled the inscription “See You, See Me!” As it crossed us, it inspired the occupants of my more sedate vehicle to wonder how we, as Africans, see and imagine ourselves, as well as how we want others to see us.
In this context, this exhibition uses photographic practices in Africa to draw attention to the ways in which Africans represent themselves, and the growing influence of these self-representations in shaping general contemporary modes of photographing Africa. African photographers inherited templates for photographic representations framed by colonial archetypes of Africans as objects of a history in which they were present, but over which they had no control. This paradigm of objectification promoted a weird presence/absence formula. It began to change, however, as Africans began to pose for their own photographs they seemed to say, “the camera must see me as I want to be seen”.
Africa: See You, See Me portrays the history of African photography and also its influence on non-African imaginings of Africa and the African diaspora in all their diversity. Together, the photographs are texts of African subjectivities, archives of history and societies in the making, and methods for understanding how images contribute to emancipation. They critique the pathologies of postcolonial and neocolonial Africa by depicting the continent’s communities disentangling themselves from repressive nation states. While some of the photographs document the participation of Africans in state affairs, others portray the formation of post-national voluntary communities as tools of empowerment.
Africa is more than a place. It is also in the many spaces of sensibility within and beyond the continent – in Europe, the Americas, and Asia -- that African artists pry open to install their presence. Their interventions in exhibition halls beyond the continent of their heritage have made a mark on recent photographs of Africa and Africans by non African photographers. Moreover, they have spurred intra-African, inter-textual dialogues about self-representation in Africa itself.
Africa: See You, See Me is organized in 3 parts. The first section features studio and other portraits of Africans seeking to write themselves into urban landscapes to which they have migrated. It presents African photographers as they tamed, adapted and subverted the framing devices and photographic conventions bequeathed them by their former colonial masters. The black and white photographs by Seydou Keita, Okhai Ojeikere, Mamadou Mbaye, Malick Sidibe and Nii Obadai illustrate a tense dialogue between the photographer and the photographed as they collaborate in inscribing African spaces and “selves” into photographic texts. Other themes in this section include the structures of African cities, societies and communities in formation, and representations of “looks” outside the studio from photographers in every region of the continent.
The second section showcases early ethnographic portraits that imagined Africa as a wilderness peopled by Europe’s primitive “Other”. We have also used the strategy of re-reading these photographs to draw attention to them as objects within the history of photography. That history was itself a significant product of an industrialized world that defined not only progress, but also constructed those at the center and peripheries of such progress in certain ways.
The final section highlights contemporary photographs of Africa and Africans by non-African photographers who share a dialogic relationship with African artists. Thus, their work has expanded both African spheres of influence and multiplied the spaces in which Africans are photographed as subjects of history.
Like the Mammy Wagon I once saw on Nigerian roads, these photographs join works presented in the other sections, to tell Africans and the rest of the world: See You, See Me.

Promoters
Macau – Angola Association

Exhibition
AFRICA: SEE YOU, SEE ME
Curator
Awam Amkpa
Co-Curator
Madala Hilaire, Gu Zhenqing

Produced by AFRICA CONT (LISBOA)
Developed by The African Studies Program at New York University

Venue in Beijing
Li Space

Organization and Production Management
Manuel C S (Lines Lab ltd)

Production Coordination
Clara Brito
Joana Correia da Sliva

Production in Beijing
Leo de Boisgisson (86/33 LINK)
 Marie Terrieux (Shuang Culture ltd)