Johnette Iris Stubbs, “Women In Water – Festa di lemanja, Salvador da Bahia, Brazil” (2001) (image courtesy the artist and Mfon)
In the above photograph, Johnette Iris Stubbs captures a group of baianas, or women native to the Brazilian state of Bahia, making offerings to Iemanjá, an African deity known as the goddess of the sea. The poetic image, caught in the last moments of twilight, is one of many in Mfon, a new biannual journal that collects the work of 100 women photographers from the African diaspora. Founded by the documentary photographer Laylah Amatullah Barrayn and the visual artist Adama Delphine Fawundu, the journal hopes to “fill a void while creating a space for intellectual discourse around issues represented by women photographers of African descent.”
To commemorate its first of many events at the Brooklyn Public Library, Visually Speaking, a series devoted to conversations around visual art, has invited the journal’s founders to speak about their project with Grace Ali, the editorial director of the art activism-oriented Of Note Magazine. Unlike a lot of other art publications out there, this one seems to be contributing a new voice. I am especially curious to hear about the journal’s future issues, which promise to focus on fewer artists at a time and in more depth.
When: Wednesday, November 1, 7:30–9pm
Where: Brooklyn Public Library (Prospect Heights, Brooklyn)
More info here.
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