Center of History and Cultural Anthropology
Institute for African Studies of The Russian Academy of Sciences
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September 27, 2014 International Colloquium «Visual Studies of Africa: Memory, History, Identity»

International Colloquium

«Visual Studies of Africa: Memory, History, Identity»

September 27, 2014
State Historical Museum
«Polovetskij dvorik» Room
Moscow, Red Square, 1



Program

11.00-13.30
Documentary:

«The Price of Death», Rebekah Lee, South Africa / UK / USA, 2012, 29’
‘The Price of Death’ explores the cost of death in contemporary South Africa through the intertwined stories of Dikela Funeral Services, a family-run business based in a sprawling township in Cape Town, and the grieving family who hire Dikela to organize a funeral in a remote town 1000 kilometres away. In the context of economic deprivation and the devastation of an ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic, the emergent funeral industry has created opportunities and risks, both moral and material, in post-apartheid South Africa.

«Europaland: a journey into popular Cameroonian imagination», Balz Andrea Alter, Cameroon/Switzerland, 2011, 30’
Europaland broaches the issue of the image of Europe of young Cameroonians. Among them Europe is both Heaven on Earth and the derivation of the African misery. The film follows the upcoming Cameroonian Reggae artist Ottou Ottou André Rodrigue taking the viewer on a trip through the social imagery of Europe as a ‘white man’s kontri’ (white man’s country)

Presentation:

Barbara Knorpp (Brunel University, UK)

Discussion:
Daria Zelenova (Institute for African Studies, Moscow), Alexandra Arkhangelskaya (Institute for African Studies, Moscow)

13.30-14.30
Lunch

14.30-16.00
Documentary:

«La Pyramide Humaine», Jean Rouch, France, 1961, 90’
The movie explores the evolving relationship between two groups, the white and the black students from the same class of a lycée in Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoir). Against the backdrop of a developing romantic relationship between a white girl and a black boy, the movie present the complex and dramatic experience of overcoming the racist mindsets found in both groups and hampering communications between them.

16.00-16.30
Coffee-break

16.30-18.00
Presentation:

Nadine Wanono Gauthier (CNRS, France)

Documentary:

«50 ans après», Nadine Wanono, France, 2014, 57’
The documentary, inspired by the legendary movie «La Pyramide Humaine» (1961) by Jean Rouch, follows up on the same question, that of the relationship between European and African students: this time, the events take place in Mali 50 years after its independence.

Discussion:
Dmitry Bondarenko (Institute for African Studies, Moscow), Eleonora L’vova (Moscow State University, MGU), Ekaterina Demintseva (National Research University – Higher School of Economics, Institute for African Studies, Moscow)

18.00-18.30
Coffee-break

18.30-20.00

Discussion: Barbara Knorpp (Brunel University, UK), Nadine Wanono Gauthier (CNRS, France), Dmitry Bondarenko (Institute for African Studies, Moscow), Eleonora L’vova (Moscow State University, MGU), Marina Burovskaya (Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology, Moscow), Ekaterina Demintseva (National Research University – Higher School of Economics, Institute for African Studies, Moscow)

Working languages: English, Russian.

The entrance is free.

Program Colloquium