Judith Craig Morency-Nalus & Afrykah-Amaya Morency-Nalus, Haiti © Dennis Morris
Victoria Park London EC Royaume-Uni
The World in London is a major public art project initiated by The Photographers’ Gallery, to coincide with the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The project set out to commission 204 photographic portraits of 204 Londoners, each originating from one of the nations competing at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The portraits will be exhibited as large-scale posters at two sites close to Olympic venues: on the external wall surrounding the BT London Live site in Victoria Park in East London, and across a city-block in Central London covering the façade of the new Park House development in Oxford Street.
The World in London explores portraiture and cultural diversity using photography, one of the most accessible and democratic artistic mediums of our times. The project celebrates London as a place where individuals from all walks of life and all parts of the world live side by side, each of them contributing to make London the unique city it is. Emerging photographers will be shown alongside leading national and international artists, such as Faisal Adu'Allah (took the photograph for Benin), JH Engström (Georgia), Joakim Eskildsen (Czech Republic), LaToya Frazier (Cayman Islands), Toby Glanville (Venezuela), Jim Goldberg (Dominica), Dryden Goodwin (Syria), Tom Hunter (Iceland), Nadav Kander (Lesotho), Karen Knorr (Puerto Rico), Mary McCartney (India), Dennis Morris (Haiti), Anders Petersen (Serbia), Rankin (Niger), Stefan Ruiz (Djibouti), Nigel Shafran (Gabon), Alec Soth (Netherlands), Vanessa Winship (Colombia), Tom Wood (Barbados) and Catherine Yass (Hungary). Portrait workshops held in the lead-up to The World in London provided training and skills development for participants new to photography. These resulted in ten portraits which will be featured as part of the project.
Fernando Casasempere, Chile © Corinne Silva
Laka, Mongolia © Max Hamilton
To ensure its legacy, The World in London project, comprising a full set of portrait prints, along with supporting materials in the form of video, oral history and written interviews, will be donated to the Museum of London where it will form a part of the museum’s permanent collection.
Up until December 2012 when the donation will take place, The Photographers’ Gallery will continue its search for the final six sitters from the following Pacific countries: American Samoa, FS Micronesia, Guam, Marshall Islands, Nauru and Palau.
Brett Rogers, Director of The Photographers’ Gallery said: As London’s premier institution for photography, we are proud to have initiated a project that engages with the cultural diversity of London at the same time as celebrating photography as one of the most powerful visual mediums of the 21st century. Commissioning such a variety of photographers has offered us an unrivalled opportunity to highlight the creative potential of the portrait genre. Whether seen through the eyes of a celebrated figure or realized by an emerging talent, these portraits reflect an impressive array of approaches to photographing the human figure.
Reomy Darrell Ngami, Republic of Congo © Stuart Griffiths
Lord Paul Swaraj, India © Mary McCartney
Moira Sinclair, London Executive Director of Arts Council England, said: Londohas a long history of welcoming the world; creating an environment where new cultures meet and become part of the very fabric of the city. The World in London will tell some of those stories through the powerful medium of photography, and show that many people from different backgrounds can all be united under the title ‘Londoner’. We are proud to support this project in what will be a very special Olympic year and look forward to seeing the works become part of the city landscape.
In addition to the outdoor exhibition, The World in London images will be presented on a dedicated website (www.theworldinlondon.org.uk) offering access to the personal stories behind each portrait. The website will also feature on the BBC and Arts Council England's experimental arts media service and commissioning programme 'The Space'. A free schools resource has also been produced.
The World in London is supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and by Arts Council England and is part of the London 2012 Festival, the 12-week nationwide celebration running from 21 June until 9 September 2012, which will bring together leading artists from across the world and the UK.
Sei Moon, South Korea© Suki Dhanda