5th Nov, 2020 19:00
Aspire X PLP | African Photography Auction 2020
13
Syowia Kyambi (Kenya 1979-)
Rose's Relocation (series of five)
archival ink print on Hahnemühle Baryta; these prints constitute one work and cannot be sold as separate prints.
Artwork date: 2015
Signature details: accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist
Edition: number 2 from an edition of 5
Sold for R58,625
Estimated at R50,000 - R80,000
archival ink print on Hahnemühle Baryta; these prints constitute one work and cannot be sold as separate prints.
Artwork date: 2015
Signature details: accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist
Edition: number 2 from an edition of 5
(5)
image size: 28 x 38 cm each, sheet size: 34 x 44 cm each, unframed
Notes:
Syowia Kyambi is based in Nairobi and of Kenyan-German origin. Incorporating photography, video, drawing, sound, sculpture and performance installation, Kyambi’s approach takes aim at the politics of the time as well as its legacy today. What is remembered, what is archived, and how we see the world anew. The work is messy, complex and uneasy and asks the viewer to bear witness to the hidden histories embodied in her work. The embodiment of collective experiences, and constant search for links between the now and the morphed now. Her process eloquently blends apparently disparate ingredients together. Without interfering or directing the viewer too much, she allows us to watch these di"erent ingredients react in front of our eyes. History collapses into the contemporary through mythical characters who simultaneously embody mischief, disruption and hurt. She opens her gullet like a pelican and tries to digest the intangible. Rooted in her practice is a deep connection to land, earth and home. Kyambi is an alumnus of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the recipient of the Centre for Art Design & Social Research Fellowship (2018–2020), the UniArts Helsinki Fellowship (2018), and the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship (2017). Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries in Senegal, Belgium, Finland, Kenya, Mali, Sweden, Germany, Zimbabwe, France, Norway, UK, Mexico, South Africa, North America and Ireland, and includes a permanent commission, Infinity: Flashes of the Past, for the Nairobi National Museum in Kenya (2007). "Rose is a character I created for a previous performance installation, Fracture (i). In Rose’s Relocation, Rose struggles with coping in her current environment, Metz, a small town in France. The digital collages portray her in this town with superimposed images of her memories of her mother’s home. As much as living overseas often is seen as a great accomplishment, it also often presents a great burden, and can provoke feelings of isolation and loss for many. In Kenya and specifically in the capital city, Nairobi, there is a narrow viewpoint on what it is to be successful. Generally, success is measured with materialism that stems from capitalistic ideals. This current construction includes a value system based on a communal identity, the result of which often creates violent and vulnerable circumstances." This work has previously been exhibited at Future Africa Visions in Time, Iwalewahaus, Bayreuth Academy for Advanced African Studies, Bayreuth (2015); Kabbo Ka Muwala – The Girl’s Basket. Migration and Mobility in Contemporary Art in Southern and Eastern Africa, Makerere Art Gallery, Kampala (2016); and Future Africa Visions in Time, Goethe Cultural Institute, Kigali (2018). Edition 1/5 was purchased in 2016 and is part of the collection of the Sindika Dokolo Foundation.
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Auction: Aspire X PLP | African Photography Auction 2020, 5th Nov, 2020
A collection of pan-African works, straddling the terrain between historical and contemporary photography, were auctioned to support the digitisation of African photographic legacies by the Photography Legacy Project (PLP). Bidders participated from across Europe, the USA and UK, Asia, Australia and Africa – a testament to Aspire’s increasing global reach and collectors’ enthusiasm for African photography.
The auction included photographic luminaries such as David Goldblatt, Alf Kumalo, G.R. Naidoo, Ranjith Kally and Ian Berry, as well as more contemporary internationally acclaimed photographers like Guy Tillim, Jo Ractliffe, Syowia Kyambi and Mikhael Subotzky. The lead lot, a portfolio of 12 silver gelatin prints from the legendary photographer Ernest Cole’s seminal 1967 book House of Bondage sold for an astounding R569,000 – a new world auction record.
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