Mémoire by Sammy Baloji: A film
and photographic
installation
Preview: Thursday, 27 May 2010 from
6-8pm
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Image caption: Sammy Baloji
Mémoire 2006 (film still)
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Autograph ABP, in
partnership with CGP London, are pleased to announce the first solo exhibition
in the UK of Congolese photographer and filmmaker Sammy Baloji in the newly
renovated Dilston
Grove.
Mémoire is an artist film addressing
colonial violence, shattered dreams of independence and the postcolonial
political fallout that exists within the current Democratic Republic of Congo.
Mémoire is a beautifully crafted and abstracted artist's video
shot in collaboration with the fellow Congolese performance artist Faustin
Linyekula. Alongside Mémoire, Autograph ABP have
commissioned Baloji to make a new large-scale photographic work that will
document the exact site of Patrice Lumumba's assassination in January 1961.
Sammy Baloji's work shines a powerful spotlight on contemporary Congolese
reality. It interrogates the abuse of power and its legacy, revealing the
devastating impact that exploitative cultures have on both society and the
environment. It calls for greater awareness of the local consequences of
'development' and highlights the rights of people. Baloji creates videos that
investigate the body and, despite restrictions on photographing public sites, he
produces images of the Congo's urban architecture. His work raises social
consciousness and stimulates artistic development in the Katanga region, a locus
for colonial and post-colonial exploitation of its wealth of minerals that are
essential for Western technologies.
The exhibition is accompanied by an artist's book available during the
exhibition. The staging of Mémoire is supported
by the Goethe-Institut Nairobi. Please contact the venue directly for
details: Dilston Grove, Southwark Park, SE1 Tel: 020 7237 1230
www.cafegalleryprojects.org for Directions
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