‘Rebue’
Photos by Daphne Kuilman
Rebue means Wednesday in Amharic, the main language spoken in Addis Ababa, the
capital of Ethiopia. I lived there for five months and every Wednesday afternoon
the sound of singing voices reached me through the doors that opened onto the
garden of the compound where I was staying. It turned out that my landlords,
Ourania and Yohanes, were members of the Pentecostal Church, the fastest-growing
religion in Africa. Like Protestants, Pentecostals experience a personal
connection with God, as opposed to mediating through a priest, but features of
the Catholic Church are visible too, such as their belief in miracles.
Pentecostals believe in healing through the laying on of hands and they speak in
tongues as they become possessed by the Holy Spirit. Their services are
accompanied by dance, singing and high emotion. I used to visit my landlord
every Wednesday to wait for my neighbours to arrive and when they started to
pray it seemed as if they entered another world. The passion with which they
surrendered themselves was overwhelming.
http://www.daphnekuilman.nl/
Daphne’s photos are on display in the library of the African Studies Centre in
the Pieter de la Court building, Wassenaarseweg 52, Leiden. Prices range from
€ 400 to € 450 (limited number of copies: 10). The exhibition is open weekdays
from 9:00–17:00 until 30 September 2010.
 |
|
 |
‘Tone of Image’ & ‘Is Beautiful’
Photos by Willemijn van Kol
Between July 2008 and February 2009, freelance photographer Willemijn van Kol
visited Mozambique’s two largest cities to shoot photo documentaries on music
and beauty in an urban context. See www.wlmn.nl
Tone of Image
The diversity of music in Mozambique is huge, from South African Kwaito to
hip-hop and from melodic metal to Afro-beat, but Mozambican artists need
inexhaustible perseverance if they are to break through successfully on to the
music scene. I have tried to visualize the meaning of music in urban Mozambique
in my photos. I spent time with musicians there, watching and listening for
hours, not only in modern well-equipped studios but also in improvised rehearsal
spaces where the sounds of Mozambican metal mingle with the sounds of cooking.
Is beautiful
We all want to be beautiful, from Dubai to Tilburg and from Sao Paulo to Maputo.
I went on a quest to discover the meaning of beauty in urban Mozambique where
the importance of beauty and being beautiful is demonstrated by the numerous
salons and barberias. These range from no more than a wooden shack with a cloth
hanging in the doorway to modern salons with air-conditioning, and even though
the locations may differ, the services they offer are the same: the never-ending
braiding of hair extensions, the straightening and relaxing of afro hair and the
shaving of men’s heads.
Willemijn’s photos are on display in the corridors of the African Studies Centre
on the third floor of the Pieter de la Court building, Wassenaarseweg 52,
Leiden. They cost € 100 each. The exhibition is open weekdays from 9:00–17:00
until 30 September 2010.
Feel free to come and take a look!
|
| |
Printable version
