About the Artist :

Valerie Durant is a conceptual artist, who works in mixed media including video, photography, as well as architectural and acoustical installation. Prior to returning to University to complete a BFA in 2001, she established a long-standing career as an interior architectural designer and construction manager working primarily in corporate and sustainable environmental design.

As an artist, she had exhibited internationally including Canada, The US and Africa and her work is held in numerous private and public collections around the world. Durant was the recipient in 2001 of Canada Council for the Arts (UNESCO) New Media Award in which she developed an acoustical and architectural project, entitled Points and Perforations around the complexities of urban life in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, an industrial area with one of the highest incidences of poverty, drug addiction and prostitution in Canada.

She is the founder and social activist curator of Out of the Rain : a Project for Homelessness, an arts based organization which through the arts, created awareness regarding homelessness and poverty within the City of Vancouver, joining all levels of government, NGO’s and the general public in forums and art events around homelessness. Details regarding Out of the Rain, it’s origins and current and previous projects and achievements can be found on the website www.outoftherain.org

Durant studied architecture and photography at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art and Science in New York and she has traveled globally and worked internationally. She currently lives in South Africa with her husbandBrian and she has two sons, Spencer and Kyle who areboth attending University in Canada.

Artist Statement :

The exhibition is a selection of photographs taken from an extensive collection, produced while traveling throughout the continent of Africa. The Face of Africa – Along the Road, attempts to convey culturally diverse societies, and individuals that exist and co-exist in Africa along the roads and the waterways, in the cities and the towns, reflecting optimism, energy, hope and a remarkablestrength of human spirit, at times, in the face of adverse conditions.

Highlighted, through photography, video and printed visual material, the series portrays people from varying cultures and tells a story from a humanistic perspective, challenging stereotypes about Africa and its people.

With the exception of several market and street images, the individuals photographed were willing participants in the relationship with myself, the photographer, mediated by the camera lens. Object became subject and personal connections were easily made with the individuals photographed. Their faces provide an intimate inner glimpse of inherent strength, of individuation and of self-determination. These are people who have woven a wonderful textile ; a quilt of may colours, which I call Africa.

Included in the exhibition are landscapes that depict the convergence of culture, past and present with the natural world. Influenced by consumerism and commodity, the work attempts to convey visually, a melding and a mosaic that is distinctly Africa, in the twenty first century.

Through the arts, creating positive connections, increasing social and cultural awareness and bridging communities of individuals that would otherwise not connect are the underling themes of my work. This project is intended to interrogate and stimulate inquiry that will generate and disseminate knowledge and explore African culture in today’s global society.

People from eleven countries of Africa are pictured in this exhibition, including the countries of Egypt, Uganda, Senegal, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique and South Africa.