SHANGHAI CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY, SHANGHAI, CHINA (28 NOVEMBER 2020 - 31 JANUARY 2021) Beyond the Border: A Journey to Touba by Maïmouna Guerresi

On the occasion of the 40-year anniversary of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA), the exhibition People and Place represents an opportunity to look back over forty years of Leica Oskar Barnack Awards. The exhibition "People and Place: Leica Oskar Barnack Award 40th Anniversary" presents the eight shortlisted photographers of LOBA 2020. Their works explore our current relationship with nature and social environments by their extraordinary perception and unique visual expression.

The works of all photographers on the 2020 LOBA shortlist represent the strengths of the photographic medium. The combined values of social documentary with a keen aesthetic appeal to the eye and the mind. This, together with the geographic diversity of the photographers, their backgrounds and interests, and their expression of the topics, gives LOBA a place in the present, as well as in history. The winner of LOBA 2020 is the Italian photographer, Luca Locatelli, and the winner of the LOBA 2020 Newcomer award is the Portuguese photographer Gonçalo Fonseca.

The shortlisted photographers are Maïmouna Guerresi, Ragnar Axelsson, Matthew Abbott, Davide Monteleone, Cristina de Middel, and Vincent Fournier.

Beyond the Border: A Journey to Touba

The Italian-Senegalese multimedia photographer Maïmouna Guerresi combines spirituality with the symbolism of the Touba tree. Her highly artistic motifs deal with everyday life, caught between modernity and tradition, especially in Senegal.

She explains, "Beyond the Border: A Journey to Touba is a project conceived during my stays at the family home in Senegal. During my travels between Dakar and the holy city of Touba, I photographed old architectural structures and glimpses of streets. Places where traditions mingle with new buildings, where abandoned yards and beaches covered in debris can become the backdrop of the quotidian. A daily life whose difficulties are alleviated by spirituality and faith. In my work, the theme of nature and the mystic body are in deep conversation. Consider, for instance, the subjects of the series Aisha in Wonderland, who wear a camouflage mantle. Or Yaye Fall, a female figure who wears a large cloak of Wax cloth. She camouflages herself with the Baobab, a plant typical in Senegal, to remind us of her relationship with nature and her strong spiritual and cultural roots with her land."

Maïmouna Guerresi, Quakam Camouflage Zero, 2019 / © Maïmouna Guerresi

Maïmouna Guerresi, Green Elevation, 2019 / © Maïmouna Guerresi

Maïmouna Guerresi, Yayfall,2019 / © Maïmouna Guerresi

Maïmouna Guerresi, Ouakam Camouflage Zero two, 2019 / © Maïmouna Guerresi

Maïmouna Guerresi, Guedawaye 1, 2019 / © Maïmouna Guerresi

Maïmouna Guerresi, Guedawaye Horse / © Maïmouna Guerresi

Maïmouna Guerresi, Mosque, 2019 / © Maïmouna Guerresi

Maïmouna Guerresi, Flow- Beyond the border, 2019 / © Maïmouna Guerresi

Maïmouna Guerresi was born in Vicenza (Italy) in 1951. She currently lives and works between Italy and Senegal. She has numerous participations to her credit, both in international museums, such as the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, the Smithsonian African Art Museum in Washington, the KIASMA Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, the MACAAL Museum in Marrakech, the Cultural Institute of Islam ICI in Paris, the National Museum of Sharjah and the National Museum of Bamako; as well as in festivals and biennials, such as the Venice Biennale, Documenta, Les Rencontres de Bamako, the Dak'Art Biennial, Manifesta, 13th Cairo Biennale and the International Festival of Photography of Bangladesh.

Her works are part in the public collections, such as at the Smithsonian African Art Museum in Washington, the LACMA Museum in Los Angeles, and the MIA Minneapolis Institute of Art.

The exhibition People and Place: Leica Oskar Barnack Award 40th Anniversary is on view until 31 January 2021, at the Shanghai Center of Photography (SCoP).