In his exhibition Liberty / Diaspora, Senegalese artist Omar Victor Diop recasts history and the global politics of black resistance.
Diop often appears as the main character in his richly detailed photographs - commemorating slave revolts, independence movements, social justice campaigns, and four centuries of notable Africans in the diaspora.
For Diop, they constitute ‘a reinvented narrative of the history of black people, and therefore, the history of humanity and of the concept of Freedom’.
Join us for a gallery tour with the artist and Autograph’s Senior Curator Renée Mussai, exploring Diop’s practice and the power of self-portraiture to challenge monolithic history telling.
This event is a walk around the gallery, and will be standing.
Omar Victor Diop (b. 1980, Dakar, Senegal) developed his interest in photography and design at an early age and uses the medium to capture the diversity of modern African societies and lifestyles.
Following acclaim for his early conceptual projects, he left his career in corporate communications to pursue life as an artist. Diop’s body of work includes fine art, fashion and portrait photography – including The Studio of Vanities, a series of staged portraits showing the new faces of art and culture scenes in African urban centres.
Diop fuses photography with other art forms, and often incorporates costume design, styling and creative writing to give life to his projects.
Since his inclusion in the Rencontres de Bamako, Mali (2011) Diop’s work has been included in exhibitions in Europe and Africa, most recently as part of ReSignifications: European Blackamoors, Africana Readings, a collateral project of the MANIFESTA European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Palermo, Italy (2018).
AUTOGRAPH
Rivington Place
London
EC2A 3BA
Opening Times
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11am - 6pm
11am - 6pm
11am - 9pm
11am - 6pm
12 noon - 6pm
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VISITOR CONTACT
T: 020 7749 1240
E: info@rivingtonplace.org
This event will be standing. Seating is available on request.
Please arrive on time for the event, as we are not always able to admit latecomers.
Banner images: 1) Omar Victor Diop, The Soweto Uprising 1976. From Liberty (2016). Courtesy © Omar Victor Diop / MAGNIN-A, Paris. 2) Omar Victor Diop, Thiaroye 1944. From Liberty (2016). Courtesy © Omar Victor Diop / MAGNIN-A, Paris. 3-4) Gallery installation at Autograph, London. Photograph: Zoe Maxwell.
Page images, from top left: 1) Omar Victor Diop, Thiaroye 1944 [detail]. From Liberty (2016). Courtesy © Omar Victor Diop / MAGNIN-A, Paris. 2) Gallery installation at Autograph, London. Photograph: Zoe Maxwell. 3) Omar Victor Diop, Frederick Douglass 1818–1895. From Project Diaspora (2014) © Omar Victor Diop / MAGNIN-A, Paris. 4) Omar Victor Diop, Pedro Camejo 1790 – 1821 [detail]. From Project Diaspora (2014). Courtesy © Omar Victor Diop / MAGNIN-A, Paris. 5) Omar Victor Diop, Nanny and Quao, Jamaica, 1720 [detail]. From Liberty (2016). Courtesy © Omar Victor Diop / MAGNIN-A, Paris.
Autograph is a place to see things differently. Since 1988, we have championed photography that explores issues of race, identity, representation, human rights and social justice, sharing how photographs reflect lived experiences and shape our understanding of ourselves and others.
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