Interview with artist Verdiana Albano about her Exhibition "On The Vastness of identities"

1 - Verdiana, can you introduce yourself? Your background, your sources of inspiration, your motivation as an artist.

Art connects and manages to look at things in a new way that might otherwise be difficult to express, see or grasp. For me, it is therefore very important to use contemporary art to address current events. This does not have to be directly apparent in the works themselves, but they should invite formats that enable extended discourses. Since the network was founded last year, Institute Contemporary - For Afro-European Art Affairs has been conceived as such a format. In view of the disappointing results of this year’s European elections, it may also hit a sore spot, at a time when many sides need to talk about actively standing up for a common and diverse Europe, and that also within the contemporary arts.

For me personally, the fundamental advantage of cultural and intellectual diversity within a society has never been in question, as I myself grew up in an Angolan-German household and was able to see how beautiful it can be to have different cultures under one roof. It shows you that not all rules are set in stone and that people deal with the same problems or friends in different ways. That’s why it was clear to me early on in my photography that I would travel to many different countries to let the places have an effect on me and also to talk to the people directly. In 2019, I was able to live in Chongqing, China for the first time and realize a series. My subsequent diploma thesis in 2021 is about the honey industry and the associated economic relationship between Germany and Mexico. In 2022, I traveled to current construction projects of the Belt and Road Initiative worldwide, the New Silk Road. Therefore, it was obvious to me to travel to places where Africa and Europe come together naturally for this year’s work “Nothing half, nothing whole” exhibited in Arles. Traveling helps me to classify social, economic and natural phenomena in the arts again and again. Of course, I also look at contemporary exhibitions of icons and young artists in all countries.

2 - How did the idea for the exhibition On the Vastness of our Identities come about? What are your various roles in this project and what is your relationship to the various artists?

On the Vastness of our Identities describes exactly what the exhibition is about: showing the many different vastness of our identities. Our world is full of movement and diversity that needs to be celebrated. It enables us to learn new things from each other and to reflect on current systems, including our own individuality. Institute Contemporary celebrates cultural diversity and shows some of the perspectives that contemporary artists who carry different cultures within themselves are dealing with.

In the past, there have always been important voices that defined Afro-European identities and were actively involved on the ground and in the diaspora. We are picking up exactly where cultures have already met and formed something new from several parts. In extremely beautiful conversations, it has become clear that we are concerned with similar, albeit subtly different, issues. I guess this is because we are not only at similar points in our careers, but also because we do not see Africa and Europe, or perhaps the world in general, as separate continents, but as an interdependent whole. This is why we also blur the hard boundaries of artistic disciplines and work in a multi- and interdisciplinary way.

The exhibition was created in close collaboration with the artists, and thanks to the support of the Allianz Foundation Fellowship, I was able to take on the role of director and curator at the beginning of the project. This was of course a great challenge, which I was only able to overcome thanks to the commitment and energy of the artists and other curators with whom I was able to talk about the project. I encountered a great deal of goodwill from the network and I very much hope that it will continue to grow in the coming years, enabling us to realize many more exhibitions together. On the Vastness of our Identities brought Delali Ayivi, MAryam Touzani, Ange-Frédéric Koffi, Monika Ribeiro and me together today – hopefully other artists, interested parties and supporters will be able to join us in the future!

3 - It’s not the first time you’ve exhibited your work in Arles, is it? What do Les Rencontres mean to you?

I exhibited in Arles for the first time in 2023. At the time, I was invited by the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation to realize an exhibition on the work “surrounded”, which I created in China in 2019. I liked the charm of the small town in southern France and the in-depth discussions about my work so much that I wanted to come back.

At the end of last year, we were unexpectedly invited by Fotohaus ParisBerlin to realize the first exhibition of Institute Contemporary during this year’s festival at the non-profit Manuel Rivera-Ortiz Foundation. Les Rencontres d’Arles naturally has a special place in photography, which is often not as present at biennials, for example. The aim here is to celebrate icons and newcomers in their entirety – and to do so in one of the regions that only separates Africa and Europe by water. This naturally also has a special significance for the network and our aspiring Afro-European artists.

4 - You asked WhiteWall to support your project - what made you do that? How did you find the collaboration so far?

I have known WhiteWall as a reliable and professional choice for prints since my studies. That’s why I have often had exhibits produced for exhibitions at WhiteWall. For me, a huge advantage is that I can visit the stores in the big cities directly with my print data and thus view the print data on a calibrated screen before they go to print. This was extremely helpful for this project in particular, as we were working with international artists and wanted to produce new works for the exhibition. I was met with understanding from all sides, so that the organization could also run smoothly. WhiteWall always took the time to answer all questions about paper, frames and glass to the millimeter!

Photo : Rear Mirror by Verdiana Albano - 2022 - Nevada