Davies on presenting Asia's largest African photography show in Shanghai

Marvelous Realism, the first and largest exhibition of African photography in Asia, opened on Aug 30 at Fotografiska in Shanghai.

Co-presented by Fotografiska and the KT Wong Foundation, the exhibition, curated by Ghanaian-British writer Ekow Eshun, brings together 16 established and emerging artists using photography and film as a means to envisage contemporary African cultural identity as a state of ongoing possibility.

According to Lady Linda Wong Davies, founder and chairman of the KT Wong Foundation, after having a home for 30 years in South Africa, she has seen the remarkable development and progress that Africa has achieved with the help of China. However, there is still very little understanding of China's culture in Africa and vice versa.

The philanthropist and art patron of Chinese descent who has been committed to fostering bridges between China and the wider world through her foundation then decided to initiate and create an exhibition of African photography, which she deemed as "the easiest and fastest way" to show the Chinese audience what contemporary Africa, beyond animals and starving children, really is.

Marvelous Realism runs through Dec 1.

If you want to go:

10:30 am-11 pm, Tuesday to Sunday, Fotografiska, No. 127 Guangfu Road, Jing'an district, Shanghai