Ghana’s first photo festival has opened in Accra. Beginning September 12, it would last till the 21st of the same month.
“We do not need to specifically just focus on changing stereotypes of what being African is through our visual storytelling; I think that’s an additional burden that other artists from other continents are not expected to subscribe to. I do think that through our visual storytelling, whatever theme we choose, and the quality of our work, we already do so much to challenge external perceptions of the African continent,” says Ngadi Smart, one of the image-makers whose work will feature in the exhibition, Foreseen: New Narratives from the African Photojournalism Database.
It’s just one of the shows in the forthcoming Nuku Photo Festival Ghana, the first event of its kind in the country. Featuring exhibitions, a conference, a portfolio review, and networking events, Nuku Photo Festival Ghana aims to “create a space for artistic explorations and exchanges”, according to the festival founder Nii Obodai. “For this first edition, we have curated a diverse programme in cooperation with local and international partners that showcases the works of 40 both established and up-and-coming photographers and visual artists.”
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The Foreseen show gathers work by 13 emerging African visual storytellers, for example, gathered from the African Photojournalism Database – a project of the World Press Photo Foundation and Everyday Africa. “At the core of the APJD is the mission to celebrate refreshing and diverse stories told by photographers often overlooked by the global media industry – stories that are not widely seen in the current, exclusive media landscape,” reads the press for the event.
“Offering reimagined visual narratives from across the African continent, ‘Foreseen’ explores themes such as tradition, religion, identity, history, memory and daily life. This collection of work celebrates a new generation of photographers who are redefining what should be seen, and how, through the stories that matter to them.”