In Conversation with Joana Choumali

Artist Talk with Joana Choumali in conjunction with the 2025 exhibition "Joana Choumali: Languages of West African Marketplaces" / "Rencontre avec l’artiste Joana Choumali: Les langues des marchés ouest-africains."

Multimedia photographic artist and recipient of the 2020 Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography Joana Choumali will speak about her practice, her inspirations, and her artistic exploration of her hometown, the city of Abidjan in the Ivory Coast. Please join us for this lively conversation moderated by Ilisa Barbash and Mitra Abbaspour, co-curators of the exhibition "Joana Choumali: Languages of West African Marketplaces," on view from January 25 to May 11, 2025.

Speakers:
Joana Choumali, Artist and 2020 Robert Gardner Fellow in Photography at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, Harvard University;
Ilisa Barbash, Curator of Visual Anthropology, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University;
Mitra Abbaspour, Houghton Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Harvard Art Museums.

"Joana Choumali: Languages of West African Marketplaces" was 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. To exlore the exhibition, visit https://harvardartmuseums.org/choumali.

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Timestamps:
00:00:00 Introduction by curator Mitra Abbaspour
00:10:28 Conversation with Joana Choumali

Related programming is supported by the M. Victor Leventritt Lecture Series Endowment Fund at the Harvard Art Museums. Modern and contemporary art programs at the Harvard Art Museums are made possible in part by generous support from the Emily Rauh Pulitzer and Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., Fund for Modern and Contemporary Art.

#joanachoumali #harvardartmuseums #artisttalk

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All images and graphics used in the video belong to their respective owners and this channel does not claim any right over them. Copyright Disclaimer: Any use of copyrighted content on this channel constitutes “fair use” pursuant to 17 U.S. Code § 107 as it is utilized for the purpose of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research.

Images of works by Joana Choumali: © Joana Choumali. Video thumbnail: Joanna Choumali visit to Harvard Art Museums' exhibition Joana Choumali: Languages of West African Marketplaces on April 8, 2025. Photo: R. Leopoldina Torres. © 2025 President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Video April 10, 2025. Videography: Casey Preston. © 2025 President and Fellows of Harvard College. For questions related to permission for commercial use of this video, please contact the Department of Digital Imaging and Visual Resources at [email protected].