Atong Atem Exhibition at Sydney Customs House
Atong Atem's works pay homage to West African studio photography in the 1960s popularised by those such as Mallik Sidibé and Seydou Keïta, whose works subverted the ethnographic gaze traditionally seen in colonial Africa. Following this tradition, Atong Atem turns the lens back on herself and her community, reclaiming the very tool that was used to deny black identity.
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Critical, sentimental, and visually striking, Atem’s studio series use an array of cultural ...