Hamam 6, 2021, Atong Atem
Digital Photograph, 73cm x 100cm
Provenance: MARS Gallery, Melbourne VIC
Exhibited: MARS Gallery, Melbourne VIC
Atong Atem is a South Sudanese artist and writer from Bor living in Narrm Melbourne. Atem turned her back on a career in architecture to pursue a passion for photography, writing and videography. Atem’s photography explores the personal and the political via the intimacy of portraiture. Her stylised imagery contributes towards the decolonisation of the depiction of African people, as she celebrates the work of African photographers who came before her by turning the lens back on herself and her community. In 2018, Atem was awarded the prestigious MECCA M-Power Scholarship, and was recipient of the inaugural $80,000 La Prairie art award. (1)
Hamam 6 was produced as part of Atong Atem’s Banksia film which premiered at Melbourne’s RISING festival in May 2021. A series of still photographs were released in conjunction with her film. Banksia sought to explore the lesser-known history of this country’s first African settlers—one that started long before Atem’s own family arrived from South Sudan in 1997 (2).
Other works by this artist: