archival pigment ink on cotton rag paper

Artwork date: 2007
Signature details: signed, dated and inscribed with a dedication in pencil in the margin
Exhibited: Examples from the edition were exhibited in:
Lianzhou Foto Festival, Lianzhou, 'Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba', 21 November to 10 December 2015.
Kuckei + Kuckei, Berlin, 'Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba', 30 April to 10 July 2010.
Helmhaus, Zürich, 'World Images 3', 13 November 2009 to 17 January 2010.
Kunsthal Extra City, Antwerpen, 'Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba’, 6 September to 25 October 2009.
Foam, Amsterdam, 'Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba', 29 May to 30 August 2009.
Fundação Serralves, Porto, 'Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba', 27 March to 17 May 2009.
Michael Stevenson Fine Art, Cape Town, 'Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba', 10 July to 23 August 2008.
Literature: Leers, D. (2015). 'Guy Tillim: O Futuro Certo’. Göttingen: The Walther Collection/Steidl, an example from the edition illustrated in colour, p. 143.
Perryer, S. & Holtz, C. (eds.). (2008) 'Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba’. Prestel/Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University, an example from the edition illustrated in colour, p. 14-15.

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sheet size: 40 x 56 cm; framed size: 47 x 64 x 4 cm

Provenance:

Private collection, Free State.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

This photograph is a part of Guy Tillim's Avenue Patrice Lumumba series, created between 2007 and 2008. Patrice Lumumba was a prominent political figure. One of the earliest democratically elected African leaders in modern history, he emerged victorious in the Congo elections after the country gained independence from Belgium in 1960.

During the independence celebrations in Léopoldville, Lumumba delivered a significant speech in the presence of Belgian King Baudouin. This speech demonstrated his opposition to the Western concept of neo-colonialism. His stance against this idea marked him as a target. In 1961, Lumumba was assassinated by Belgian agents following UN involvement in the secession of the Katanga and South Kasai provinces. This event occurred alongside a military coup supported by Western powers and led by Mobutu Sese Seko.

Many African cities have streets, avenues, and squares named in honour of Patrice Lumumba. Today, his legacy as a nationalist visionary remains intact, unaffected by the allegations of power abuse that later became associated with other African heads of state.

Tillim embarked on this project as the recipient of the first Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography granted by the Peabody Museum at Harvard University.

COLLECTOR'S NOTE

An example from the edition forms part of the permanent collection of the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge.

Guy Tillim recently formed part of the major survey exhibitions of contemporary and historical photography; Trace - Formations of Likeness: Photography and Video from The Walther Collection at Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany in 2023 and Shifting Dialogues: Photography from The Walther Collection, at Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany in 2022.

COLLECTIONS

The artist is represented in numerous local and international collections, notably, the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris.; France Centre National des Arts Plastiques, Paris.; France DZ Bank Art Collection, Frankfurt, Germany.; Fondation Leschot, Freiburg, Switzerland.; Fundação de Serralves, Porto, Portugal.; Gordon Schachat Collection, Johannesburg, South Africa Hood Museum of Art, Hanover.; International Centre of Photography, New York, USA Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa.; Musée du Quai Branly, Paris, France.; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, USA Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA.; National Museum of Photography, Copenhagen, Denmark.; Museum of Modern art, San Francisco, USA.; Sasol Corporate Art Collection, Johannesburg.; Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town.; Standard Bank African Art Collection, Johannesburg.; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.; TATE Modern, London, United Kingdom and The Walther Collection, Neu-Ulm, Germany and New York, USA.