A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography – Tate Modern show celebrates new generation of artists, but misses a trick

• Twenty-seven years later, Tate Modern is introducing a British audience to the next generation of African photographers.
• With such a long gap, there are high expectations for A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography.
• Simultaneously, it stands as a long-awaited affirmation of African photographers, validating their unique use of the medium.
• At the same time, the artist herself is claiming her space in the exhibition as one of only 12 women featured.

Dialogue and consent

• a group of masked women drag golden water canisters through the busy streets of Lagos, Nigeria.
• It provokes dialogue where performance art is not widely understood or appreciated.
• Ogunji, born in Nigeria, received her BA from Stanford University and an MFA from San Jose State University in the US.
• They are part of the global art scene that sees African art as a growing investment opportunity.
• What struck me most about the exhibition was the consent implicitly and explicitly expressed in all the works by collaborating with the sitters and avoiding works created through covert observations.