After a drought of more than a month due to Covid lockdown, the museums have finally reopened their doors. This weekend was an occasion to go under the tropics at the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam where a small exhibit “Through the lens of” has been awaiting the public for a while. Several talented African photographers, male and female, give us their view of various parts of Africa, from North to South, West and East. A variety of situations, characters, landscapes are shown. I was particularly ravished by the work of Nada Harib from Lybia, Fethi Sahraoui from Algeria, Yoriyas from Morocco or Sydelle Willow Smith from South Africa. These four were among the sixteen exhibited. Their photographs go beyond the artistic composition and whether it is the story of today’s Casablanca in “Casablanca Not the Movie”, “Escaping the Heatwave” in Algeria, or that of the women of Lybia, in the series of the same name, or the somehow sad life of the whites in today’s South Africa in “Project: Un/Settled”, these young photographers stand out and catch our attentions. I wanted to know more about them and discovered unexpected jewels: Africa is not only the cradle of humanity, but also a place where talents can grow and bloom. Let’s encourage them and let’s hope for more exposure in our countries in the very near future. In the meantime, it is an exhibit definitely worth visiting in a lesser known gorgeous museum in Amsterdam.
