retracing heinrich barth
The theme explored in Retracing Heinrich Barth (2006/2007), (supported by South East Arts and the University of Brighton) connects to Winckler’s first degree in Anthropology and African Studies. Through this project, she has started to “excavate” anecdotes relating to 19th century explorer Heinrich Barth, which have been presented in the form of an interactive web archive: www.retracingheinrichbarth.co.uk.
19th century German explorer Heinrich Barth was one of the first Europeans to recognise the significance and richness of African history and culture. Travelling under the Arabic name Abd el Kerim, he crossed the Sahara desert and over the Aïr mountains into Central Africa, recording his journey in the five volume Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa 1849-1855.
Inspired by this account and fired by tales of a mysterious room containing a trove of ancient artefacts connected to Barth’s expedition, Julia Winckler, artist and senior lecturer in photography at the University of Brighton, journeyed to Niger. Retracing Barth’s footsteps and drawing on her combined interests in African studies, Anthropology, and Photography, she has interwoven a narrative based around her encounters and impressions. Her artistic response features shifting viewpoints and addresses questions of identity and memory.
In addition she facilitated the participatory project Stories from Agadez: Life as it is now. This captures the experiences and images of eight African non-professional photographers, most of whom recorded their own lives for the first time through photography. The resulting images document the hardships and achievements of a local Tuareg and Hausa community. One of the photographers, Sarhid Hamadalher explains: “I have taken pictures of the life that people live here. I hope that these photos will make you discover the beauty of this country and the fantastic potential it holds. I like photography because it allows us to relive the past and it is also a great passion of life”.
Retracing Heinrich Barth exhibition
17th of April to 21st June 2008
The exhibition features an interactive digital space, contemporary photographs and historical artefacts on loan from the Royal Geographical Society, SOAS special collections and the State Archives, Hamburg.
An outreach and education programme, workshops and exhibition-related talks in association with the Centre for African Studies at SOAS create opportunities for gallery visitors, community groups and primary and secondary pupils to respond to work in the exhibition.
For further details of the exhibition and events please visit www.soas.ac.uk/gallery
More information on the project can be found at: www.retracingheinrichbarth.co.uk
| Brunei Gallery, SOAS Thornhaugh Street Russell Square London WC1H 0XG |
Open: Tuesday – Saturday 10:30 – 17:00 Closed: Sunday and Monday Admission Free T.020 7898 4046 (recorded information) E. gallery@soas.ac.uk |
An exhibition catalogue will include commentaries by Dea Birkett (Royal Literary Fund Fellow, University of Brighton, and author of many travel books) and sociologist Prof Adrienne Chambon (University of Toronto).
Events Program
Saturday Workshops
SOUVENIR
26th April, 13:00 – 16:00, Brunei Gallery (free event)
Map Workshop with Luce Choules
Document your visit to Agadez through the photographs and artefacts on display in the exhibition. Luce’s practice is linked to each journey, field trip or expedition she makes. Her cartographic editorials reveal found and hidden narratives and networks, central to the re-creation of place and time.
explore MAPS create PLACES
17th May, 13:00 – 16:00, Brunei Gallery (free event)
Map Workshop by Megha Rajguru
Translate your experience of being in a place through maps. This workshop starts with a short journey and frees the participants’ imagination to create their own imaginary place. Megha’s art is cross-disciplinary. It is two-dimensional in drawing and photography, three-dimensional in sculpture and installation and four-dimensional in film. Her artworks visually explore the relationship between people, objects and their surroundings. They become alive with meaning when placed in certain environments.
Photographic Journeys
24th May, 13:00 – 16:00, Brunei Gallery (free event)
Workshop with Julia Winckler and University of Brighton BA Photography students
Translate your experience of the exhibition through photography. You will work with digital cameras (provided) to explore the immediate surroundings of the gallery to create your own photographic impressions of place and a response to the stories and people featured in the exhibition.
For more information or to find out about additional workshops, please contact: Joy Onyejiako (Gallery Office): +44 (0) 20 7898 4026 / gallery@soas.ac.uk
Education Programme
School visits
School visits can be arranged at any time throughout the duration of the exhibition. The Brunei Gallery is usually closed on Sundays and Mondays, but can open on Mondays for pre-arranged school visits, which include in-gallery learning activities.
To book a school visit, please contact:
Julia Winckler: j.winckler@brighton.ac.uk
To book a tour and/or talk with a SOAS student ambassador, please contact:
The Widening Participation Office (Learning & Teaching Unit, SOAS): +44 (0) 20 7898 4113
Artist’s Talk
In Conversation 31st May, 12:00 – 13:00, Brunei Gallery (free event)
Adrienne Chambon and Julia Winckler
Adrienne Chambon, University of Toronto, Canada, will be in conversation with Julia Winckler inside the Gallery to discuss the exhibition and to take visitors on a guided tour, focusing on the themes of visual archives, mapping and memory.
Exhibition-related Talks
Thomas Knoll
24th April, 17:00 – 18:30 Room B102 Brunei Gallery (free event)
A culture in transition – personal insights of a development worker in Agadez, Niger
Thomas Knoll: Sociologist, University of Tübingen, Germany, former development worker with the German Development service in Niger 2003–2005.
Achim von Oppen
2nd May, 16:00 – 18:00 Room B102 Brunei Gallery (free event)
The painting and the pen. Approaches to Heinrich Barth and his African Heritage
Achim von Oppen: University of Bayreuth, Germany; Professor of African History.
Benedetta Rossi
29th May, 17:00 – 18:30 Room B102 Brunei Gallery (free event)
Niger: the paradoxes of chronic aid
Dr. Benedetta Rossi, University of Liverpool, School of History. Author of “The Paradox of Chronic Aid”. In Crombe, X and Jezequel, JH (eds), Niger 2005: A “Natural” Catastrophe? Columbia University Press.
Yvan Guichaoua
5th June, 17:00 – 18:30 Room B102 Brunei Gallery (free event)
The Current Rebellion in Northern Niger: Causes, Context and Actors
Yvan Guichaoua is a Research Officer at the Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity at the University of Oxford. After focusing on youth access to the informal labour market in Cote d’Ivoire, his research now analyses the dynamics of violent political mobilisation in Nigeria and Niger. He is the author of various articles and book chapters on Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire.
All talks are in association with the Centre for African Studies at SOAS
For more information, please contact:
Angelica Baschiera (Centre for African Studies) +44 (0) 20 7898 4370 / ab17@soas.ac.uk
