Joana Choumali: Languages of West African Marketplaces

Explore the complex and multinational economy of secondhand T-shirts through the vibrant mixed-media photographs of award-winning Ivorian artist Joana Choumali.

Joana Choumali: Languages of West African Marketplaces showcases 12 life-size hand-quilted and embroidered portraits created from combinations of photographs taken in the marketplaces of Côte d’Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) and Ghana, where secondhand clothing discarded by the United States and Europe plays a central role in the economy of goods. Choumali (b. 1974) has made her birthplace of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where she continues to live and work, a central subject of her photographic practice. There she encountered the prevalence of bold English-language slogans on T-shirts worn by individuals who do not speak English in the markets; she became intrigued by the dissonance between these designs and the lives of the individuals wearing them.

The series, called Yougou-Yougou (a Malinké phrase for secondhand clothing), reveals the diversity of languages, economies, and people found in regional marketplaces and underscores the impacts of the international circulation of excess consumer goods. Accompanied by Choumali’s notes from her conversations with her subjects, the works continue the artist’s commitment to deep engagement with and representation of her local community through her artwork.

Curated by Ilisa Barbash, Curator of Visual Anthropology, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University, and Mitra Abbaspour, Houghton Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museums; with Bridget Hinz, Senior Curatorial Assistant for Special Exhibitions and Publications, Division of Modern and Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museums.

Co-organized by the Harvard Art Museums and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. The creation of the works in this exhibition was funded by the Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography at the Peabody Museum. For more information, visit the Gardner Fellowship website.

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