‘Bad bicthes of the industry’ exhibit what they are made of artistically
BY CityLife Arts Writer
She Bad Bad is a photographic exhibition of emerging black female photographers in South Africa. The title is a celebration of their strength, courage and diversity, coined from the colloquial term “bad bitch”. She Bad Baddescribes women whose photography re-imagines conceptual works of art through lived experiences. These are the “Bad Bitches” of the industry.
As part of the Africa 2020 season, Les Rencontres d’Arles and the French Institute (Paris) awarded Fulufhelo Mobadithe first Curatorial Research grant – Africa Projects in 2019 for her project She Bad Bad. The grant includedcuratorial research, the production and presentation of She Bad Badat Les Rencontres d’Arles in France. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic and restrictions on travel, the French Institute (Paris) resolved to have the work presented in Johannesburg. The French Institute of South Africa partnered with the Market Photo Workshop for the exhibition, which is currently showing at the Photo Workshop Gallery until 27 August 2021.
Concurrent with the exhibition is the She Bad BadPodcast Series, sponsored by Open Society Foundation for South Africa. This public programme forms part of an annual curatorial thematic at the Market Photo Workshop that focuses on questions of gender and sexuality, presented in partnership with the Open Society Foundation for South Africa. This podcast series is produced in collaboration with This Audio is Visual,a podcast that engages African photographers on their work and journey as image makers.
Contributing Photographers are Puleng Mongale, Bongiwe Phakathi, Brittany Zoe Masters, Nonzuzo Gxekwa, Noncedo Gxekwa
Manyatsa Monyamane, Lebogang Tlhako, Mandisa Buthelezi, Tshepiso Moropa, Thalente Khomo and Fezeka Mophethe
About Rencontres d’Arles
The Rencontres d’Arles formerly called Rencontres internationales de la photographied’Arles) is an annual summer photography festival founded in 1970 by the Arles photographer Lucien Clergue, the writer Michel Tournier and the historian Jean-Maurice Rouquette. The Rencontres d’Arles has an international impact by showing material that has never been seen by the public before. In 2015, the festival welcomed 93,000 visitors.The specially designed exhibitions, often organised in collaboration with French and foreign museums and institutions, take place in various historic sites. Some venues, such as 12th-century chapels or 19th-century industrial buildings, are open to the public throughout the festival.
About the French Institute in South Africa (IFAS):
Over the 20 past years, IFAS has worked with multiple public and private partners in South Africa and in more than 30 African countries, prioritising the development of skills and ecosystems for innovation in the cultural and creative industries sector. With each project, IFAS develops unique collaborations with the shared goal of making the exchanges between the countries within creative industries more rewarding, complementary, dynamic, innovative, creative and ambitious. The Institute facilitates and implements these collaborations with key players of the French creative industries in training, innovation, business development and public policies to design programmes with a win-win approach.
.Access to this exhibition is free of charge.