Picnos Tshombé
Gloria Oyarzabal
Witty Kiwi
Co-published by Landskrona Foto Publishing and Breadfield Press
Spanish and English
Hardcover
includes booklet of 32 pages
142 pages
170 x 240 mm
2018
ISBN 978889418827148
Picnos Tshombé looks out of a window into history to understand the consequences of the events of decades ago on the contemporary world. The story begins in the 1960s, when the processes of decolonization of the African continent took place, with the mysterious disappearance of a key man in the history of the Congo and brings us to the current phenomenon of African immigration. The set of images, documents and texts establish threads and metaphors that connect the present with the recent past and make us reflect on the unequal and complex relationship established between Europe and Africa, rather, between Europeans and Africans.
If we assume that it is the artist’s duty to open the eyes/mind of the observer and thus raise awareness, then analysis and activism are intrinsic elements: power and responsibility, potential to raise passions, clarify ideological nebulae, correct historical errors, generate debate, provoke new thoughts, values and ethics. The responsibility of those who return home and feed a collective imaginary: when developing a project, my modus operandi follows alerts inputs, a continuous self-questioning that leads me to historical researches. Since my years in Mali, my energies have been focused on understanding the Machiavellian and harmful construction of Africa’s IDEA and its imaginary, the complex processes of colonization/colonization, the current tactics of neo-colonization and, almost as a consequence, the wide spectrum of voices in African feminisms, the effect of colonization and imperialism on the concept of “woman” in other societies and the way gender issues are handled thereafter, to conclude that feminist and gender discourses cannot be universalized. Processes of colonization of the mind: Ngugi wa Thiong’o or Chinua Achebe talk about how European civilization took over the African world and how Western influences such as language, religion and social structures changed African societies, not only geopolitically, but also psychologically, spiritually and mentally.
About the Artist
Graduate in Fine Arts, she diversifies her activit between film, photography and teaching. Co-founder and programmer at the independent cinema “La Enana Marrón” in Madrid (1999-2009), dedicated to the diffusion of author, experimental and alternative cinema.Lived 3 years in Bamako, Mali (2009-2012) researching on the construction of the Idea of Africa, processes of colonization/decolonization , new tactics of colonialism and the diversity around the different voices of the African Feminisms.
gloriaoyarzabal.com
About the Publisher
Witty Kiwi is an independent publishing house founded in 2012 with the intention to promote contemporary photography, through photobooks. Witty Kiwi focuses on a personal photography with particular attention to poetry and metaphysics aspects.
witty-books.com
