Since 1994, the Bamako Meetings, co-organised and co-produced by Mali’s Ministry of Culture and l’Institut français,* have been held every two years in Bamako and are recognised as the leading cultural event of international scope focusing on issues in contemporary photography and video in Africa. Exhibitions, discussions among professionals and with the public, workshops, public projections fill the city,
public spaces and cultural venues and represent an opportunity for discussion and reflection among artists of the African continent and Diaspora, curators, the media and collectors from all around the world. Open to the various trends in contemporary photography and video, with special attention to the cultural heritage and creativity in Africa, the Bamako Meetings feature a series of initiatives, focusing on a central theme, scattered throughout the city and its exhibition spaces. For the second consecutive year, Michket Krifa and Laura Sérani will be the artistic directors for the Bamako Meetings. Samuel Sidibé is the executive officer. The Pan-African Exhibition, resulting from a call for applications and the selection of artists representing all of the African continent and Diaspora, is part of the Biennial’s central theme. In 2009 the theme was borders; in 2011 the title is “For a Sustainable World.”
The call for applications for the participation of photographers in the international exhibition is launched as of January 3, 2011, on the Internet site of the Bamako Meetings and of l’Institut Français. This call goes out to all photographers and video artists in Africa, regardless of where they live. All media, silver film, digital and others will be eligible. Once the application period has ended, a selection committee chaired by the Meetings’ Executive Officer, Samuel Sidibé, and meeting with the artistic directors, Michket Krifa and Laura Serani, will make the final selection of photographers. This committee’s decisions will be final and unappealable.
Applicants must send their applications to l’Institut français to the attention of the Executive Officer of the Bamako Meetings no later than March 15, 2011, at the following address:
Attn: Executive Officer
of the Bamako Meetings
Culturesfrance / L’Institut Français
1, bis avenue de Villars
75007 Paris
Applications must include the following:
For photographers:
• a CD containing 15 to 25 JPG 300DPI photographs
• 10 prints, with a minimum format of 15/21 cm and a maximum of 30/40 cm, that are part of a body of work focusing on the theme. Each print must be titled and dated on the back, with the photographer’s name and country.
• A curriculum vitae accompanied where appropriate by a critical text on the complete oeuvre.
• A letter explaining the photographer’s vision of the relationship between the works proposed and the theme of the 8th Bamako Meetings.
For video artists:
• A DVD containing a selection of your films, with the title and length of each
• A document summarising the list of films sent on DVD with the title, length and a short synopsis, and possibly a link to an Internet site where the videos can be watched.
• A curriculum vitae accompanied where appropriate by a critical text on the complete oeuvre.
• A letter explaining the video artist’s vision of the relationship between the works proposed and the theme of the 8th Bamako Meetings.
Deadline for applications: March 15, 2011
Contacts:
Samuel SIDIBE
Executive Officer of the Meetings
National Museum Of Mali
BP 159 Bamako
Tel: (223) 2023 1909
musee@afribonemali.net
Culturesfrance / L’Institut Français
Laurent MAILLAUD
Director of the Department of Artistic Exchanges and Cooperation
