Happy are those who died without ever having had to ask themselves: „If they tear out my fingernails, will I talk?“. But even happier are others, barely out of their childhood, who have not had to ask themselves that other question: „If my friends, fellow soldiers, and leaders tear out an enemy’s fingernails in my presence, what will I do?“
Jean Paul Sartre
Fotoausstellung
im 2. Stock der Galerie HERZOGBURG
Burggasse 9
9300 St Veit/Glan
Vernissage:
22. 08. 2015, 19.00 Uhr
Ausstellungsdauer:
23. 08. bis 17. 09. 2015
Вольф Бёвиг:
«Причина, по которой я решил вернуться в Украину — я ничего не понял»
Bird in Flight
23. Juli 2015
Black.Light Project was chosen by the international jury members among the best projects of the year 2015.
Tbilisi, Georgia
May 2015
Eight screenshots of „reporting violence“ (animation of Black.Light Project) were exhibited at the KOLGA AWARD exhibition in Tbilisi, Georgia and printed in the annual photo catalogue.
Ausstellung
03. – 31.03.2015
Boesner GmbH
Bornumer Straße 146
30453 Hannover
“
It is primitive to assume, or even expect, ‘truth’ to be defined by identical parameters by every faction involved. Truth cannot be isolated. And even if defined, there is the problem of justification, of self interest, that takes the pure and reconcilable truths of a culture or of basic human survival, and bends them.
The semiarid plains of Karamoja in northeast Uganda are home to over one million agropastoralists. The communally-owned land over the past few decades has also been walked upon by warring clansmen and rebels, Ugandan soldiers seeking to disarm and in many cases terrorize the Karamojong people, auxiliary forces, government security personnel, local militia, arms traders, cattle rustlers, and in recent years, international mining companies.
Without day, without voice.
Soldiers in yellow uniforms without a knock on doors, without a word or explanation, arrive and take soil samples from the carefully planted and tended gardens.
Meanwhile back in the the capital, Ugandan government officials accelerate mining licenses to private sector interests by 700 percent over an eight year period. These outside companies mine without consent, impacting or crippling the artisinal gold mining operations established by the rightful landowners, the Karamojong people.
The exploitation of the region’s natural resources, most notably gold and marble, is just one thread in the net of oppression that has gripped Karamoja for generations. The battling in the region between clans and Ugandan soldiers over borders, cattle, and arms has resulted in internal displacement and social fracturing from decades of conflict. Combined with widespread drought leading to famine, and some of the highest poverty levels and malnutrition in the world, the people of this African region live under the assumption of trauma.
Without day, without night, without beginning or end, the distrust and misuse of power exchange hand over hand, year after year. And whether about land use, Kalashnikovs, or gold, the outcome is identical: the marginalization of a population trying to get through their days, to work their land, run their cattle, feed their families, educate their kids, wash their clothes. It’s a fairly ordinary and familiar list of human existence goals. And yet.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crises. The great point is to bring them the real facts.”
What is the appropriate reply? Who is to give ‘the people,’ Karamoja’s indigenous groups, the truth? And is the truth a straight line, or bent? The assumption of miracles is a privilege afforded to those wielding the power. There is a beginning, a middle, and an end to each day. The cycle of continuity gathers light and replaces it with dark until light washes the early morning sky again. And again. And again. The day arrives. The need to survive remains ever-present. The articulation of that truth and the justice it embodies and even depends on, however, remain deferred.
“
by Kirsten Rian
“
Das Illustrationsprojekt Black.Light beschäftigt sich mit den Traumata der westafrikanischen Charles Taylor- Kriege der 90er Jahre. Es besteht in einer offenen und variationsreichen Fusion von Bild-und Textdokumenten des Kriegsfotografen Wolf Boewig und des Reiseschrifstellers Pedro Rosa Mendes mit den grafischen Improvisationen einer Reihe namhafter internationaler Comiczeichner. Über mehrere Jahre nahm dieses außergewöhliche Experiment unter der Regie von Wolf Boewig und der grafischen Direktive von Christoph Ermisch allmählich Gestalt an. Andreas Platthaus referierte vor zwei Jahren in der FAZ über die teils enthusiastische aber auch streckenweise frustrationsgestättigte Entwicklungsgeschichte von Black.Light. Sein Beitrag ist hier über die Melton Prior Institute abrufbar.
Das Resultat der langjähren Kollaboration ist nun seit wenigen Tagen auf der eigenen Website zu besichtigen. Das 240-seitige Buch kann hier digital durchgeblättert werden, auch eine animierte Fassung mit gesprochenen Textpassagen ist verfügbar, sowie Dokumentationen von Ausstellungen und Workshops.
“
Melton Prior Institute
25. Dezember 2014
Black.Light Project Animation/Film
Der Film „Über Gewalt berichten“ – als Teil des Black.Light Projects – wurde für den Deutschen Menschenrechts-Film Preis 2014 in der Kategorie Kurzfilme nominiert.
Black.Light Project – exhibition
Singapore International Photography Festival 2014
31.10.2014 – 28.12.2014
Presented by SIPF and Noorderlicht (The Netherlands), in partnership with ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands
Black.Light Project – exhibition
4. Mediations Biennale Poznan 2014
„When Nowhere Becomes Here”
20.09.2014 – 27.10.2014
“
…
Neem het Black.Light Project van de Duitse fotograaf Wolf Böwig en de Portugese journalist Pedro Rosa Mendes. Wie zich ondermeer per koptelefoon laat meevoeren naar Sierra Leone en Liberia, beide lange tijd geteisterd door burgeroorlogen, zal niet snel vergeten waar dit werk over gaat. Sterker, wie luistert naar de in prachtige taal gegoten verschrikkingen en de bijbehorende foto’s en tekeningen bekijkt, neemt dit met zich mee naar huis.
…
“
„AN OCEAN OF POSSIBILITIES“
De Volkskrant 3. September 2014
Black.Light Project – exhibition
Noorderlicht Photofestival 2014
An Ocean of Possibilities
Fries Museum, Leeuwarden
31.08.2014 – 26.10.2014
„city of rest“ – Black.Light Project
Noorderlicht Photofestival 2014,
Fries Museum, Leeuwarden
“
The 21st Noorderlicht International Photofestival is inspired by the growing quest for different means to shape our collective future, in a hopeful answer to the structural failings of our current economic and political systems.
With To Have and Have Not (2013), Noorderlicht shed light on the causes and agents behind the current global economic and political crisis. An Ocean of Possibilities moves beyond dissecting what went wrong, and looks at the decisive potential of those who go against the tide and plot their own course.
„
„reporting violence – one night in Florida“
Screenshot from film/animation
25 minutes
Black.Light Project
Noorderlicht Photofestival 2014,
Fries Museum, Leeuwarden
Singapore International Photography Festival 2014
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
