"Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba" Exhibition Comes to Toronto

If you're in the Toronto area this spring, don't miss the exhibition "Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba" from April 20 to June 14, 2011, presented by the Design Exchange, Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival and Wedge Curatorial Projects and organized by the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago.

Avenue Patrice Lumumba by South African artist Guy Tillim, examines modern history and architecture in Africa, set against the backdrop of its colonial and post-colonial roots. These poignant photographs trace Patrice Lumumba’s nationalist legacy across numerous African countries, including Mozambique, Angola and The Democratic Republic of Congo.

Patrice Lumumba was one of the first elected African leaders and became the first prime minster of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was assassinated a mere ten weeks after he spoke out against human rights violations, at a time when his country had just earned independence from Belgium in 1960. Today many African cities, streets, avenues and squares are named in his honor, representing an African dream for national unity.

Guy Tillim: Avenue Patrice Lumumba is one of the primary exhibitions in the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival. CONTACT 2011: Figure & Ground investigates the way photography mediates how we perceive, recognize and experience the rapidly changing world around us. This year’s festival explores the tensions between humanity and nature, from the figure in the landscape to the effect of human intervention on the ground.

“Photography allows us to relive the past and keep in touch with it. As an art form that captures humanity’s emotion and history’s actions, Tillim’s work is a testament to the evolving human spirit. The DX is extremely proud to be offering its home to showcase these exceptional works during CONTACT. We know they will inspire our community to expand their perception of what is possible with the lens”, said Samantha Sannella, President & CEO of the DX.

“Guy Tillim’s photographs about the history, architecture and humanity in Africa is a very powerful highlight of the festival this year”, says Darcy Killeen, Executive Director of CONTACT, “we are pleased to partner with the Design Exchange and Wedge Curatorial Projects, and grateful to the MoCP and the Lannan Foundation for their support of this important exhibition.”

"This exhibition will gain immeasurably from its installation within the Design Exchange, which is situated in an iconic modernist building, designed by Mies van der Rohe in the 1960s, coinciding with the period of rapid change in Africa", said Kenneth Montague, director of Wedge Curatorial Projects. "This setting provides a very poignant contrast with Tillim's images of buildings showing scars of neglect - an apt metaphor for a dream deferred."

Funding for this exhibition has been provided by the Lannan Foundation.