This has prompted Myriem Baadi to the recent launch of Black Shade Projects, a platform with an aim to address this darkness, "to turn on the light on these artists, but also on emerging talents" from Africa and its diaspora.
Deciding not to have a physical space, and not to align the initiative with the term "gallery", Myriem Baadi is opening Black Shade Projects within Ozwald Boateng's highly renowned boutique tailors in Mayfair — making the most of the increased appetite for African art due to the 1.54 Art Fair. With the help of artist, curator and founder of the Black British Female Artist Collective, Enam Gbewonyo, a selection of photographs by Youssouf Sogodogo and works by Irvin Pascal and Vanessa German have been put into dialogue with the suits in the boutique. Through the idea of "conversation", Myriem Baadi hoped to highlight "the aesthetics, that the eye is intelligent enough to pick up on elements that work together".
Youssouf Sagodogo, Nati Misseni (Fine Braid) (1993)
Limited edition black and white silver gelatin photograph. Courtesy the artist and Black Shade Projects
Born in Mali, the home of the Rencontres de Bamako, in 1955, Youssouf Sogodogo immerses us into "a happy time" in his native country, expressed primarily through the faces revealed beneath the braids. The Crossroads series, created between 1983 and 2005, mixes allegory and poetry, drawing the gaze along the routes mapped out in the hair, illustrating the link between the diaspora and the population living in Mali, with travel and union resulting in a "huge breath of fresh air".
And if photography is the art of symbols, so is hair. Curator Simon Njami, also involved with the exhibition, writes, "it represents, through the way it is cut and styled, an endless collection of social, religious and cultural codes".
Youssouf Sagodogo, Rangé (Tidy) (1997)
Limited edition black and white silver gelatin photograph. Courtesy the artist and Black Shade Projects
Coming back to the primary mission of Black Shade Projects, Myriem Bassi explains, "Youssouf Sogodogo was working alongside Malick Sidibé, but the market chose Sidibé, leaving many others in the shadows. A lot of photographers and artists stopped working, discouraged by the inaccessibility of the market". So whilst the project aims to bring to light the creations left in the dark, the objective is also to create a market for these artists' works. In addition to Youssouf Sogodogo, Black Shade Projects will also represent artist Adama Kouyaté and the estate of Abdourahmane Sakaly.
For Myriem Baadi, not being tied to a space "offers greater liberty", but Black Shade Project will be joining Cromwell Place, a London initiative opening next May which will offer temporary exhibition spaces.
Next up for Black Shades Projects is Marrakech in February, and New York in May.
