Distance and Desire

Tribal chiefs and kings, archaic scenes in nature, and idealized warriors: clichéd images and stereotypical depictions of an exotic Africa seen through Western eyes. The emergence of photography in the nineteenth century allowed a curious public far from the colonies to cast their gaze on the African content. Distance and Desire: Encounters with the African Archive brings together vintage portraits and figure studies, historic albums and books, as well as postcards and cartes de visite that were created in Southern Africa from the 1870s up to the early twentieth century. By setting this historic archive of African photography in dialogue with recent photography and video by contemporary artists including Candice Breitz, Santu Mofokeng, Zanele Muholi, and Samuel Fosso, the exhibition opens up new perspectives on the poetic and political dimension of the collection, its diverse histories, and changing meanings.