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Elisa L Iannacone. All the cakes in the world. 2022. NMCH series. Africa Contemporary Art.

ELISA IANNACONE

ALL THE CAKES IN THE WORLD

Hahnemule Photo Rag Baryta on diasec

Edition of 5 (1200 x 800mm)

Edition of 10 (600 x 420mm)

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AFRICA CONTEMPORARY ART & JUST ART INTERNATIONAL

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Africa Contemporary Art is a niche visual arts agency, based out of South Africa, working with a select stable of multi-media artists, with a primary focus on human rights - and, consequently contemporary identities, and geographies (Africa, the global South, and the creative intersection with the traditions of the global North). Social justice is an overriding concern (serious, ironic but also fantastical and whimsical in expression).

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Just Art International, our non-profit entity, focuses exclusively on the intersection of art and impact, social justice, and human rights, and has developed a reputation for implementing large-scale, multi-disciplinary art projects with at-risk communities in (South) Africa, - with the expressed intention of leaving behind a legacy of sustainable community interventions. 

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Key projects include 

THE SPIRAL OF CONTAINMENT: in collaboration with photographer Elisa Iannacone - 2022 TO 2023 

COME LET'S PLAY - THIS IS ME: in collaboration with our sister company impact4good and the Nelson Mandela Children's Hospital  - 2023 ongoing

Elisa L Iannacone. The Great Escape. 2022. NMCH series. Africa Contemporary Art.png

ELISA IANNACONE

THE GREAT ESCAPE

NMCH series: Come, Let's Play (Toolong re Bapaleng)

Hahnemule Photo Rag Baryta on diasec

Edition of 5 (1200 x 800mm)

Edition of 10 (600 x 420mm)

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ELISA IANNACONE

NMCH series: Come, Let's Play (Toolong re Bapaleng)

Hahnemule Photo Rag Baryta on diasec

Edition of 5 (1200 x 800mm)

Edition of 10 (600 x 420mm)

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DREAM SCAPES:
BY ELISA IANNACONE  (REFRAME HOUSE),
A SUITE OF 5 WORKS OF CHRONICALLY ILL CHILDREN
COMPLETED IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL AND 
THE NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S FUND

THE PROJECT DEBUTED AT THE AFRICA CONTEMPORARY ART STAND 
 DURING THE TURBINE ART FAIR 21-24 JULY 2022
 

Nelson Mandela had a dream: A hospital for the children of South Africa. In June 2016, two and a half years after his death, the NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL (NMCH) opened its doors to its first patients. A truly uplifting and joy-filled institution (architectonically and clinically) NMCH continues to dispense extraordinary life-saving health-care, happiness, and joy to its visitors, every day.

 

To celebrate the five year anniversary of the NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, AFRICA CONTEMPORARY ART collaborated with the team at NMCH and the NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN’S FUND to create five photographic portraits of five young patients - four renal dialysis patients who spend four days per week at their "home-from-home", and one cardiac patient. The project was titled: ' Come Let's Play! (Tloong Re Bapaleng!)'.

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Photographer, Elisa Iannacone met with each child, and talked - and played - with them to

tease out  their hopes, dreams and desires into a realisable dreams-cape. Iannacone transformed the hospital beds and wards into fantasy-scapes - from balloon flights; to carnivals; a world of cakes; a car racing through space; or a dance in a fashion heaven. The resulting portraits at play are filled with hope, joy, whimsy and delight – for both the children (and families), and the viewer. Each work is a testimony to the care that encompasses the NMCH professional ethos. 

 

We are privileged to have been able to work with the dedicated team on our project which debuted at   TAF2022, and continues - and expands - over the next three years on- and off-line.

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Works of the limited edition suite are still available for purchasing. Contact us directly.

Portions of proceeds of purchases from

AFRICA CONTEMPORARY ART

of this limited edition of works go to the 

NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

to commemorate their 5-year anniversary in July 2022.

And is continuing in association with the 

NELSON MANDELA CHILDREN'S FUND for their 

30 year anniversary.

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SALES OF WORKS DIRECTLY BENEFIT YOUNG CHRONICALLY ILL CHILDREN. LARGER DONATIONS DIRECTLY TO THE FUND WILL GO TO EXTENDING THE HOSPITAL TO INCLUDE A PAEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY SERVICE.

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"Each of us, as citizens, has a role to play in creating a better world for our children."

Nelson Mandela at luncheon hosted by Kofi Anan: Special UN Session for Children, 2002.

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Elisa Iannacone. The Spiral of Containment.The Kingdomjpg

ELISA IANNACONE

THE KINGDOM:

THE SPIRAL OF CONTAINMENT

Hahnemule Photo Rag Baryta on dibond

1500mm x 1000mm

3 available

In public collection

THE SPIRAL OF CONTAINMENT: ELISA IANNACONE

CONSTITUTION HILL EXHIBITION EXTENDED INDEFINITELY.

 

"My career as a cinematographer and photojournalist came to a sudden halt after I was sexually assaulted in 2011.

After the assault, I felt like a shadow of a person, without much direction, and barely any capacity to navigate earth.

Through art therapy, I started to process my assault creatively:  I kept imagining myself stripped bare, with these antler wings. They had once had feathers but were no longer usable. I reached out to other people, who had been raped to explore the images that spiralled in their own minds. The result became a project that aims to impact people around the world".  Elisa Iannacone, 2018.

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THE SPIRAL OF CONTAINMENT: RAPE'S AFTERMATH, (SPIRAL), by Mexican-Canadian photographer, cinematographer and foreign correspondent, Elisa Iannacone, is a multi-media experiential exhibition consists of 24 photographs, soundscapes and installations, and one hologram, each of which features a single rape survivor, in an elaborately constructed, magical-realist portrait. The works were created by the photographer in collaboration with each subject, reconstructing and reframing the original traumatic experience into one of empowerment, agency, and revitalised identity.

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SPIRAL has been extended indefinitely and can be viewed at CONSTITUTION HILL in Johannesburg, where it  has been specially curated for installation in the 25 chilling Isolation Cells of Number 4 Prison in South Africa's premiere human rights site.

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ELISA IANNACONE

STAYING AFLOAT:

THE SPIRAL OF CONTAINMENT

Hahnemule Photo Rag Baryta on dibond

1500mm x 1000mm

Series of 5

NYAMBO MASA MARA. 2021. Beyond Borders. Photograph 1. 'Umhambi - The Traveller'.png

NYAMBO MASA MARA

900MM X 600MM

Series of 5

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