SF/Arts Curator Insight

Landscapes feature prominently in this collection of video artists from across the African continent. Haythem Zakaria meditates on the quality of rocks in the phosphate mountains outside Redeyef, Tunisia. Minette Vari's 'Quake' features mysterious black and white figures advancing across a desert of electronic static while cityscapes morph in the background, invoking the persistent sameness of human endeavor while civilizations rise and recede. Djibril Drame centers transportation workers who discuss the terrible conditions in a nearby goldmine and wonder why so many give their lives to the effort. Halida Boughriet's scenes are more intimate, revealed in snatches by holding a match close to the surface of various photographs, fragments briefly flare before the small flame goes dark.