A curatorial project of Appointed Time
Eric Gyamfi
Just Like Us: Constellations
curated by Drew Snyder
Goethe-Institut, Johannesburg, South Africa
8 November 2017 - 15 February 2018
“Just Like Us” is a photographic project by Ghanaian photographer Eric Gyamfi. It began as a portrait of the quieter side of queer life in his home country, where the work encouraged an open dialogue about the presence of non-heteronormative members in society and the important role that they play in constructing the national social fabric. By living with different people for extended periods of time and showing his subjects in their realities, the pictures worked to question society’s dominant ideas of sexual differences and to celebrate queer life in Ghana.
Now, some two years into its life-cycle, this exhibition reflects a progressive and self-reflective expansion of the “Just Like Us” series, both in medium and subject matter. At the Goethe Institut in Johannesburg, Gyamfi explores more deeply the contextual and material grounding of the project. The first iteration of “Just Like Us,” exhibited under the title “See You/See Me” at the Nubuke Foundation in Accra, elicited a great deal of reaction, particularly online. This reaction itself became a telling reflection of the state of debate in Ghana surrounding queerness, and it inspired the artist to look for ways it could connect to the broader media landscape and fold back into the display. Through strategies of disassociation, repetition, reproduction, and fragmentation, Gyamfi wrests the language out of its native contexts to create a more nuanced portrait of the discourse.
With research being a key part of Gyamfi’s artistic practice, it became logical in this exhibition to rethink the normal conventions of photographic displays in order to gesture toward the many hours of audio recordings, reflective writings, and multiple outtakes that he conducts while constructing his work. To this end, this exhibition constructs constellations of photographs from the series, many of which have never been displayed, alongside found media material relevant to the topic of queer life in Ghana. Gyamfi has re-photographed notes, documentation of previous stages of the series, and other research materials all of which are also included. This informal mode of exhibition is designed to pull the curtains back on Gyamfi’s artistic process and provide visitors a deeper look at the mechanics behind his important contribution to photography and queer discourses in Ghana.
The artist and the curator thank Cara Snyman, Lien Heidenreich, Samantha Modisenyane, John Fleetwood, Amy Daniels, Eddie, Lovemore, Sefa Ewurama Gohoho (Untamed Empire, Accra), Nii Obodai, Nuku Studio, Mokgethwa Mokie Matlhako, Billie McTernan, the Photographers masterclass with curators Simon Njami, Frederique Chapuis, Akinbode Akinbiyi, and Katrin Klaphake, and all the participants and collaborators throughout Just Like Us for their support and inspiration.