We are living in an era when African people migrating to Europe are considered solely as numbers. Over recent years newspapers have daily reports on how many migrants have arrived on the shore of Sicily, how many have died and how many are kept in camps on the Libyan coasts. In an increasingly xenophobic wave crossing all over Europe and the USA, Westerners seem to have forgotten the humanity behind these numbers. Few are interested in the stories of the migrants, their previous role in society, the reason why they decided to leave their country.
The photographic project People of Tamba, comprised of 200 pictures, aims to create a typological catalogue of the society of Tambacounda, the largest city in the country’s most internal and rural region and the point of departure for the majority of Senegalese clandestine migration.
The inspiration for this project is German photographer August Sander’s People of the Twentieth Century — a series of portraits of real individuals and their roles within German society just before the rise of the Nazi regime.
Viviamo in un’era in cui le persone africane che migrano verso l’Europa vengono considerate semplicemente numeri. Negli ultimi anni i quotidiani di informazione hanno riportato con cadenza giornaliera il numero di migranti sbarcati sulle coste della Sicilia, quello dei morti e il numero di quanti sono stati fatti prigionieri sulle coste libiche.
In un’incessante ondata xenofobica che sta coinvolgendo l’Europa e gli Stati Uniti d’America , l’Occidente sembra aver dimenticato il lato umano che si cela dietro a questi numeri. Poche persone sono realmente interessate alle storie dei migranti, al loro precedente ruolo nella società e le ragioni che li hanno spinti a lasciare la loro terra.
Il progetto fotografico People of Tamba, costituito da 200 immagini, si propone di voler creare un catalogo tipologico della società di Tambacounda, la più grande città della regione più interna e rurale del Senegal, nonché luogo di partenza della maggior parte delle migrazioni clandestine.
L’intero progetto è ispirato a People of the Twentieth Century del fotografo tedesco August Sander – una serie di ritratti a soggetti e al loro ruolo nella società tedesca prima dell’ascesa del regime nazista.
Contemporary African Art Fair – In collaboration with MACAAL – 21s – 24th February 2019
Biennale of Contemporary African Art of Dakar – Mon Super Kilomètre – Medina, Dakar – 6th May 2nd June 2018
Mon Super Kilomètre – Esplanade des Invalides, Paris – 6th and 7nd October 2018
Fondazione Studio Marangoni – Florence – 8th February – 3rd March 2019
Gallery
Related Projects
The portraits of People of Tamba were exhibited on the walls of Marrakech Medina during Contemporary Africans Art Fair 2019.
The People of Tamba exhibition arrives in the streets of Palermo for the Biennale Arcipelago Mediterraneo (BAM) at the end of 2019.
The portraits of People of Tamba were publicly displayed as large prints glued to the walls in the streets of Dakar.
The project People of Tamba exhibition in the streets of Milan and at Fondazione Sozzani.
The People of Tamba exhibition arrives in Lecco for Immagimondo in September 2019.
Installation of People of Tamba in Paris, during the event Nuit Blanche 2018.
Giovanni Hänninen, Via Santa Marta, 18, 20123, Milan, Italy, e-mail: studio@hanninen.it — all images © Giovanni Hänninen 2021