'PORTRAITURE ARCHIVES IN AFRICAN PHOTOGRAPHY' ESKENAZI MUSEUM OF ART, INDIANA

KWAME & MAX |2017

Screenprint on cotton jacquard, denim, thread, original Ewe Kente application, hand stitched

160 × 165 cm

PORTRAITURE ARCHIVES IN AFRICAN PHOTOGRAPHY

ESKENAZI MUSEUM OF ART

February 22 - August 31, 2025

Bloomington, Indiana

Portraiture and Archives in African Photography explores how artists of African descent have approached portraiture in historical and contemporary photography. The exhibition draws upon strengths in the Eskenazi Museum’s collection of Malick Sidibé’s and Tijani Sitou’s photography during the mid- to late-twentieth century to consider the significance of their work today as well as new directions in portrait photography among contemporary lens-based artists working in West Africa. Sidibé and Sitou, who both ran photo studios in Mali, became well-known within their respective communities in Bamako and Mopti. Sidibé also garnered global recognition for his portraits of Malians following political independence from France in 1960. This led to his fame as one of the most celebrated photographers from the African continent. This exhibition offers a new take on Sidibé’s and Sitou’s legacy as contemporary photographer Ibrahima Thiam re-invents their images in ways that re-inscribes them with new meaning today.

With focus on West Africa, Portraiture and Archives in African Photography explores how contemporary artists, including Thiam and also Zohra Opoku, use and engage with photographic archives. The exhibition will display new acquisitions of Thiam’s and Opoku’s work to the Eskenazi Museum’s collection, in addition to a newly commissioned artwork by Thiam, made specifically for this exhibition, which responds to the Eskenazi Museum’s photography collection.

Curated by Allison Martino and Beth Buggenhagen.

Co-curated by Ibrahima Thiam.