As its title suggests, the scope of A World In Common: Contemporary African Photography is vast. The expansive recent exhibition at Tate Modern brings together 36 multigenerational artists whose work explicates, shapes, and reinterprets Africa’s diverse cultures and historical narratives. Tracing these threads across photography, film, and audio, the show spans the continent’s many geographies, cultures and time zones to present a vision of Africa past, present and future that’s as nuanced because it is prodigious. 

“Given the vast number of nations on the African continent, the aim wasn’t necessarily to ‘represent’ each country, but moderately to disclose multiple perspectives on different themes and issues,” explains curator Osei Bonsu. “The title is taken from Achille Mbembe’s collection of essays, On the Postcolony. Mbembe’s notion of ‘a world in common’ is one by which Africa’s histories are understood as a part of a worldwide narrative of civilisation. Remapping Africa’s entangled histories of slavery, colonialism and migration, Mbembe argues for the rethinking of African experience in relation to global networks and cosmopolitan identities.”

The exhibition also examines the currency of the photographic image as a supposed document of truth and the way, as a conduit of meaning, its meaning can alter because it travels through space and with the passage of time. “Photography has played a vital role in shaping global perceptions of Africa – the medium has been in use on the continent since its invention within the 19th century,” Bonsu tells Dazed. “While photography is widely understood as a democratic and accessible medium, it has also been used as a tool to perpetuate colonial images and stereotypes of Africa. The exhibition confronts this narrative, taking a look at Africa’s multiple histories and cultures to light up the role photography can play in changing the way in which we see the world.”

Bonsu concludes, “A World in Common is an exhibition dedicated to expanding the way in which we see photography. We hope that folks see the exhibition as a chance to learn more in regards to the many cultural, social, and historical narratives that shape African experiences. The exhibition addresses themes akin to climate change, spirituality, and urbanism from the attitude of artists who’re exploring Africa’s past, present and future. We hope that visitors will feel inspired to reimagine the role photography can play in reshaping our understanding of necessary global and native issues.”

Below, we speak to 6 of the younger artists whose work is featured in A World in Common. From reimagined family archives, future utopias, and visions of the natural world infused with mystery, we talked with Lebohang Kganye, Atong Atem, Ruth Ossai, Mário Macilau, Léonard Pongo and Julianknxx about how they make their work and the way it contributes to this hugely necessary exhibition. 

Working primarily with themes of loss, death, family history and ancestry, Johannesburg-based artist Lebohang Kganye draws on family archives, family history and oral traditions with the intention to explore ideas of home and belonging, refuge and identity, while also excavating the history of South Africa and apartheid.

“Ke Lefa Laka: Her Story is a body of labor that began two years after the passing of my mother. I used to be scared that I used to be starting to forget what my mother looked like, what she gave the impression of, and her defining gestures. So I started to search for pieces of my mother in the home, that is after I found her old photo albums and I realised that a few of the clothes that she was wearing in her 20s and 30s were still in her wardrobe. With the assistance of my grandmother, I used to be capable of retrace the precise locations. I proceeded to re-enact her photos, mimicking the identical poses she had. My reconnection along with her became a visible manipulation of ‘her-our’ histories.

“I later developed digital photomontages where I juxtaposed my mother’s old photographs with photographs of a ‘present version of her’ to reconstruct a recent story and a commonality: she is me, I’m her and there stays on this commonality a lot difference, and a lot distance in space and time. The photomontages became an alternative to the paucity of memory, a forged identification and imagined conversation.”

“The photomontages became an alternative to the paucity of memory, a forged identification and imagined conversation” – Lebohang Kganye

“The concept of the imagination and staging inside family photographs is absolutely intriguing to me. Photographs are a mix of truth, of fantasy, and of selection. What family photographs depict versus what the family actually is or was are two separate realities. For instance, my mother worked in a factory in her twenties, yet amongst her photos there shouldn’t be a single certainly one of her in her factory employee’s uniform. The pictures that come to represent her are all very staged, very beautiful.

“My work addresses the act of erasure in family albums as an organic process. The selective realities offered to us by family albums aren’t any different from oral traditions. I’m told a story today, yet after I am told the identical story tomorrow, even when I’m asking a factual query, the reply might be different, and that’s organic. While my work may resonate with a very South African experience, it critically engages the broader narratives of collective memory through oral traditions, and memory as a tangible source material” – Lebohang Kganye

Multidisciplinary artist Atong Atem examines notions referring to “disparate ideas around science fiction, mythology, history, identity and displacement”. Originally from South Sudan but now based in Melbourne, Atem explores the fluidity of migrant narratives and postcolonial practices within the African diaspora.

“I exploit photography, film, text and painting to make work about legacy, permanence, metaphysics and self-actualisation. Lots of the photographic works I’ve made have been about photography as a tool – the non-photographic works I’ve made have also been influenced by my interest in photographic history and particularly the aesthetics of portrait photography.

“I grew up with a really particular relationship to photography – especially portraiture. It was a logo of permanence in an otherwise fractured and displaced life. My family, and lots of others prefer it, have carried photographs of individuals and places through war zones, language barriers and unimaginable difficulties in order that they turn out to be imbued with an almost spiritual reverence and an influence beyond their physicality. The photo album is more like a shrine than an object for a lot of us.

“The Studio Series was my first photographic series of labor… They were made in response to my understanding of the written history of ethnographic photography and my emotional response to its visual language. [The title] references the good studio photographers of West Africa in addition to the unknown photographers my family visited across East Africa, and in fact, this work is about identity and the way we form it, but I’m really taking a look at mythology and the way we create myths informed by aesthetics moderately than the opposite way round. I take part in this, and I believe there’s an interesting power in it.

“My family, and lots of others prefer it, have carried photographs of individuals and places through war zones, language barriers and unimaginable difficulties in order that they turn out to be imbued with an almost spiritual reverence and an influence beyond their physicality” – Atong Atem

“Aesthetically, I’m very fascinated about things which might be kitsch or naff; there’s a joy and humour in that for me… I also reference a number of the visual things I’m inspired by to compose my images. Probably the most obvious – to me no less than – is catholic iconography. Just about all of my portraits reference Images of saints and Catholic figures within the posing, expressions and image composition. The way in which I prefer to pose my hands is strongly influenced by representations of the Virgin Mary. It’s not an explicit commentary on the character of faith, but an appreciation for the aesthetics of Catholicism and the symbols of divinity. There’s something more spiritual beneath all of it however it’s not the purpose for me” – Atong Atem

Employing the medium of studio portraiture, photographer Ruth Ossai documents the “on a regular basis lifetime of families and friends with their very own personal style” while drawing on a private archive of old family photos from Nigeria and Yorkshire.

“[My work is inspired by] family – ‘family’ said loosely, as this might be friends, colleagues, teachers, sports team, lovers, etcetera – and community at large. My sets are made in south-east Nigeria and are inspired by computer graphics featured in Igbo gospel music videos and Nollywood movies. [I’m drawn to] the innocence, naturalness, effortlessness and freeness of 1’s self. 

“It’s incredible to see how photography has transitioned through time and to see my works alongside studio photographers like James Barnor… who paved the way in which and were crucial key innovators of photography within the twentieth century” – Ruth Ossai

Self-taught Mozambican visual artist and activist Mário Macilau uses his work to focus on the over-consumption of poorly manufactured electronic goods on the detriment of the environment. 

“My approach is targeted on the research and discovery based on the consequence of changes with the passage of time, people, environment throughout the living and the working condition. I like mostly to also work on subjects related to collective memory and the technique of decolonising forms. My photographs highlight identity, political issues and environmental conditions, at times working with socially isolated groups to make my audience aware not only of the numerous social injustices and inequalities on this planet, but in addition of scenes of humanity, brotherhood, victory, love and hope.

“The Mozambican economy has grown steadily in the previous few years, and this growth continues unabated to at the present time. It may possibly namely be observed in the brand new electronics consumption trends emerging in Mozambican communities. Every single day, people buy recent or used electronic devices imported from industrialized countries. Generally poor in quality, the purchased commodities don’t last very long: it’s as in the event that they had been designed to interrupt. Customers are accordingly forced to discard just-bought equipment and to hunt upgrades regularly.

“And yet, whilst these recent television sets, mobile phones, radio receivers, digital cameras, computers and other consumer electronic devices are thrown out every single day, there isn’t any systemic plan to process and eliminate them once they’ve been discarded. There isn’t a electronic waste management or recycling system in place. E-waste is now a serious component of the fabric waste in the town and it’s growing at an alarming rate. It’s estimated that each yr several million tonnes of e-waste are generated across the country, an amount that equals to roughly seven kilograms of waste for one and all on the planet” – Mário Macilau

Léonard Pongo is a visual artist working with mixed media, whose work includes film, photography, textile works and immersive installations exploring Pngo’s relationship with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Drawing on themes of creation, destruction, beauty and natural power, the artist connects these ideas with “a way of depth and awe, a kind of respect and dignity for the land, natural hierarchy and profoundness of nature.”

“I’m very fascinated about the concept that our perceptions are limited, fragmented, and that reality is way larger than our understanding. I attempt to create images that carry a way of mystery where the viewers can feel they access a unique realm, where their usual gaze can shift slightly and where the universe that’s created also plays with their sense of perception and where their representations and preconceptions are challenged.

“My inspiration comes from a direct experience of living within the land, and a performative element, where physically roaming the country’s more distant areas for several weeks allows me to create the photographs. I also spend time researching, discussing and reading in regards to the country’s traditions, and looking out at traditional crafts, which all mix to guide me within the creation process. I prefer to work with a moderately intuitive approach, letting others guide me and following cues and inspiration as they arrive up while walking.

“I attempt to create images that carry a way of mystery where the viewers can feel they access a unique realm” – Léonard Pongo

“Primordial Earth is inspired by Congolese traditions and organised as a dialogue with the landscape of the country, where the land itself is seen as a protagonist with its own will, and a living entity, with its own knowledge and wisdom. My belief is that from this interaction and dialogue with the landscape, which happens visually and physically, deeper understanding of ourselves and our place on the planet could be attained.

“The project is consciously organised to revolve more around shapes, visual environments, and physical sensations moderately than themes or clear narrative elements. I prefer specializing in a sensory experience of the spaces I interact with moderately than a mental evaluation. My hope is that specializing in this kind of experience allows an audience to create a private relation to the work, and thru it, to the Congolese land(scape)” – Léonard Pongo

Julianknxx is a author, visual artist and filmmaker whose practice negotiates “the space between cinema, poetry and music”. Their work focuses on narratives that tell global stories through the lens of Africa. He tells Dazed, “I like the concept of being a satisfied wanderer moving through the world and uncovering our histories.”

“In Praise of Still Boys is a multi-channel three-screen installation that re-examines my childhood growing up in Sierra Leone through the lives and experiences of those young boys that live near the Atlantic Ocean in Freetown. The film meditates on change, fate, and on a regular basis magic, whilst desirous about what the land can let you know about itself and its people. 

“Storytelling is absolutely necessary to my practice, what stories are coming through Sierra Leone, and the way these stories proceed to interact in global historical discourse. Specifically, I’m fascinated about oral storytelling and learning through the stories told by our elders. I’m also questioning what meaning land holds, especially West African land, in regard to world history.

“In West Africa, blue is usually related to depth and stability. It symbolises trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth and heaven” – Julianknxx

“Sierra Leone overlooks the Atlantic, which holds a lot meaning and history. The ocean and water play a giant part on this work, specializing in what significance the ocean had during, and after the transatlantic slave trade. I consider the healing qualities of water on this piece, the way in which we meditate with water, we live in it, it lives in us. I’m also inspired by mythologies of Black people having lived and survived within the ocean.

“In West Africa, blue is usually related to depth and stability. It symbolises trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth and heaven. In all, blue represents love, harmony, togetherness and peace. The color blue evokes the natural harbour of Freetown, the capital city of Sierra Leone. It’s the perpetual color of the clear daytime sky across the continent. It is usually the color of the Atlantic waters where hundreds of slaves were drowned, left and transported. It’s the color of the crops that enslaved ancestors cultivated. It is usually significant because the film is shot during ‘the blue hour’, which not only has an aesthetic effect but can be of significance in Sierra Leonean folklore” – Julianknxx

A World In Common: Contemporary African Photography is running at Tate Modern until February 14, 2023.

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