– Africa Awakes –

is a series of photographs created in December 2007 by Italian photographer

MANUEL SCRIMA

Venue: Greenlane Gallery Dingle

Date: 1st – 16th May, 2009

Vernissage: Saturday 1st May 2009 last 7.00 pm

The Kenyan NGO New World International is proud to introduce the international exhibition Africa Awakes in Dingle & Paris.

One of the most exciting exhibitions to hit Dingle in recent times, Africa Awakes, opens this Friday, May 1st, in the Greenlane Gallery. This stunning photographic exhibit by Manuel Scrima is presented in conjunction with NGO New World International, the Ministry of Health, NWI Kenya and the tribal communities of the Rift Valley, Kenya. This exhibit presents a unique opportunity to see another side of African life, aside from the poverty, starvation, disease, AIDS, corruption, dictatorship or civil wars that dominate our evening news. The objective of Africa Awakes is to enable people to experience the magic and culture of Africa . It brings together the power and sheer scale of Africa, combining the energy and fire of the ancient and the new. This exhibition portrays the profound distortions that exist today in Africa, illustrating the reality of life as seen through the eyes of the people, through their customs. It is raw and compelling, highlighting the challenges and contradictions facing Africa today as well as the confrontation between tradition and contemporary.

Manuel Scrima is a digital entertainment consultant and photographer, who was working across Europe in the early 2000’s. He started collaborating with ICROSS in early 2005. After visiting Africa in February 2006, he left his job and started to work full time as a volunteer to help the charity. Using the powerful images of his photographs, he creates events, exhibitions and projects, travelling between Europe and Africa. All these projects now are going to be housed under Create Africa, the company he is now heading, in its fight against poverty.

A first preview of the exhibition was displayed in Tampere Hall in September 2008. After travelling to Salerno, Paris and Milan, a new updated exhibition travelled to the Cultural Centre Caisa, international cultural centre in the heart of Helsinki. The exhibition will move to many locations including Dublin, London, Bornemouth, Budapest and Nairobi. The exhibition was created to support acclaimed and essential programmes in Kenya. The aim of this exhibition is not only to raise funds to finance the work of ICROSS and NWI in Kenya but also to raise awareness of the plight of the peoples of Africa and the difficulties they face. The proceeds of the sale of these photographs will go to fighting suffering in Africa and donations may also be made at the exhibitions.