As Paris Photo 2011 celebrates African Photography, one cannot help but notice that its attempt to unveil the creative and historical wealth of both past and contemporary African artists is often  limited by ever revolving ‘clichés’ such as safari, wilderness, poverty or aids.

written by Joyce Bidouzo-Coudray

As luck would have it, there is also a wider spectrum of privately owned galleries involved in the event’s programming and that’s probably where one may yield the much needed doze of higher energy and inspirational substance that the colossal venue fails to deliver.

Especially note worthy, the SOME/THINGS SECRET Gallery Exhibition CHILDREN LOSE NOTHING which managed to gather the in-crowd of both local and international ‘connoisseurs of the creation’ by the likes of Lidewij Edelkoort, Anthon Beeke, Ellen Af Geijerstam, Nora Renaud, Raina Lampkins-Fielder, Antoine & Shyamala Maisondieu and Missla Libsekal…among many others.

Apart from featuring movie stills, portraits, landscape shots, stage photography and music by artists such as Sarunas Bartas, Bernhard Edmaier, Kostas Ordolis and Eleni Karaindrou… it is without doubt the contribution by Greek photographer, Athina Kazolea and her breathtaking visual opus  ‘ETHIOPIA MY BLACK BYZANTINE’ that has our caviling hearts weep with utter delight. These stellar images, most of which have never been printed nor displayed before, were taken at a sacred pilgrim village, perched high up on the ‘roof of Africa’, where kings once held assembly and where their visions, their dreams, smells and devotions have remain unaltered for millenniums.

The exhibition CHILDREN LOSE NOTHING –  running through March 2012 –  is a must see to all well discerning eyes visiting Paris in the near future.

SOME/THINGS SECRET Gallery,

16 Villa Gaudelet, 75011 Paris / +33 1 47 00 91 90