Mémoire

Photo exhibition Sammy Baloji

27 aug 2010
28 aug 2010

Sat 28 Aug to Sun 12 Sept in de Brakke Grond
Opening Fri 27 Aug at 5 p.m.

in cooperation with the Prince Claus Fund

It is impossible for a country to reach its full potential as long as it dare not look the traumas of the past squarely in the face; this seems to be the message of Congolese photographer and video-maker Sammy Baloji (1978).

Vergroot

from Mémoire 2006 (c) Sammy Baloji - Veerle Desmedt

Come to the opening of his remarkable photo exhibition Mémoire on Friday, 27 August 2010 at 5 p.m.

This socially critical artist mercilessly lays bare the destructive influence exploitative cultures have had on the nature and society of the Congo. He places black & white archive images of exploited Congolese workers in today’s ravaged landscapes, where colonial rulers once shamelessly chased their desire for profit, without the slightest respect for the consequences. In 2009, Sammy Baloji was awarded a Prince Claus Award for his powerful work.

Sammy Baloji was born in Lubumbashi, in Katanga province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 1978. He still lives and works in his hometown, where he is also a member of local artists’ association, the Vicanos Club. He also obtained doctoral degrees in the arts and social sciences from the university there. Sammy Baloji started out drawing cartoons, later moving into photography and video. He has dedicated many works in these media to Katanga’s culture, as well as the colonial legacy in DR Congo.
Ethnography, architecture and urbanism are themes that constantly recur in his work – the filters through which he analyses African history and identity.

Opening times:

28 Aug to 8 Sept
Saturday: 1 p.m. – 8.30 p.m.
Sunday: 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Monday: 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Tuesday - Friday: 10 a.m. – 8.30 p.m.

9 Sept to 12 Sept
Thursday & Friday: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday & Sunday: 1 p.m. – 10 p.m.

FREE ENTRANCE

This exhibition is part of Allez Congo: a festival in de Brakke Grond and De Balie focusing on the cooperation between Belgium and the Congo, between artists and others, fifty years after the advent of Congolese independence. http://www.brakkegrond.nl/KalenderDetail.aspx?calID=422018