Academy for Educational Development

AFRICAN CHILDREN TELL THEIR STORIES WITH CAMERAS
Exhibit of Photography by Malian Youth Opens at Smithsonian October 2

Washington, D.C., September 18, 2006 — A new, eye-opening image of Africa will be on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, thanks to a group of sixth grade Malian students from two small villages 500 miles southwest of Timbuktu.

Visual Griots, a project of the Academy for Educational Development, sent a team of Malian and U.S. photographers into the villages of Damy and Kouara to put cameras in the hand of youth, empower them to document their lives, and help them better connect with their communities and the world. Promoting community cultural development and mutual understanding are the primary goals of the program.

“We must stop thinking that everything must arrive on a wave from the West,” said Alioune Bâ, the official photographer for the National Museum of Mali, and a Visual Griots instructor. “We are capable of creating an image of our own that can ride its own wave in the opposite direction.”

That African wave will be arriving in the United States this fall when the students’ photographs will be on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History from October 2, 2006 through April 29, 2007. Photographs from Visual Griots were previously shown in Mali’s capital, Bamako, at the 5th annual African Photography Encounters Festival.

Nearly 50 images were created through the Mali project, portraying the day-to-day delights and duties of village life. During the workshop, the Malian youth in the program took inspiration from the role of the griot, a traditional West African storyteller who carries on a family’s or village’s oral traditions.

“This is a gift,” said Shawn Davis, who directs the project. “This exhibit gives us the opportunity to see Africa through the eyes of African children.”

Visual Griots was the brainchild of the late Nestor Hernandez, a renowned photographer from Washington, D.C, who played an integral role in all aspects of the project.

Following the Smithsonian show, the Visual Griots exhibit will travel to other venues around the country, offering visitors a window into these proud young peoples’ customs, religious identities, families, and daily lives.

The Africa Channel, a new television network showcasing programs from Africa, is a media sponsor of the exhibit.

Founded in 1961, the Academy for Educational Development (www.aed.org) is a nonprofit organization working in all the major areas of human development, with a focus on improving education, health, and economic opportunities for the least advantaged in the United States and developing countries throughout the world.

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