PORTRAIT MODE
Briefly

The article explores how cultural critic Sall contextualizes the works of African artists within their social and political realities, highlighting Oumarou Ganda's film Cabascabo as a rebuttal to colonial narratives in Jean Rouch's Moi, un noir. Similarly, it discusses Ernest Cole's photographic documentation of apartheid in South Africa, which presents an unfiltered depiction of Black South African life. Sall argues that these artists challenge sensationalism and underline the importance of authentic African storytelling, stressing that such narratives have long existed outside Western art markets and discourse.
Oumarou Ganda's Cabascabo serves as a critique of Jean Rouch’s Moi, un noir, reflecting his real-life experiences and challenging the distorted lens of ethnofiction.
Ernest Cole’s photographs in House of Bondage are powerful testaments to the daily lives of Black South Africans under apartheid, offering an unapologetic emotional truth.
Sall emphasizes that African artists have continuously documented their own realities, contesting the notion that their narratives are merely emerging in modern discourse.
The core message of The African Gaze is that the work of these artists transcends commercial art contexts, rooted instead in their authentic social and political environments.
Read at Artforum
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