State of Emergency. Harakati za Mau Mau kwa Haki, Usawa na Ardhi Yetu

Subsequently, after independence, the Kenyan government made it illegal to speak or write about the Mau Mau until 2003; indeed, it was not until 2013 that the British government formally expressed its regret for the abuses suffered at the hands of the Empire, and a small group of claimants were awarded some £20 million in compensation in a trial that uncovered the Migrant Archives: a secret collection of thousands of documents relating to all 37 former colonies, once deemed too sensitive to be made public. This revelation provided many unpublished documents detailing the systematic torture of detainees during the Emergency and the knowledge of these abuses by British government officials in London and Nairobi. The fact that such important documentation proving colonial violence was destroyed created gaps in history and prevented any subsequent reconciliation processes. Reproductions of this colonial archive form the core of State of Emergency – Harakati za Mau Mau kwa Haki, Usawa na Ardhi Yetu.

State of Emergency is an attempt to collaborate, reconstruct and re-imagine possible futures of reparation and reconciliation. With the collaboration of the National Museums of Kenya, Kenya National Archives and Documentation, Nyeri Museum, Karatina University, members of the Mau Mau War Veterans Association of Kenya, Kenya Human Rights Commission, the National Archives (UK), Bristol Archives and Museums, the Archive of Modern Conflict and the Flemish Government, the project provides a collective response aiming to heal the still open wounds of colonial violence yet without erasing them, proposing a reparatory tool which, through the medium of photography, speaks truth to power on behalf of those who experienced it.

The exhibition is accompanied and complemented by a publication produced thanks to the collaboration between Max Pinckers and the Mau Mau Veterans Association of Murang'a, Nanyuki and Mukurwe-ini, initiated under the leadership of the late National President Elijah Kinyua (aka General Bahati), with the guidance and support of the National Museums of Kenya and Karatina University.

The exhibition may also be accessed with the EXPOSED PASS, purchasable for €25 via this link: https://www.exposed.photography/tickets.

We would like to thank Fondazione Torino Musei and Palazzo Madama for their support.

EXPOSED Torino Foto Festival is the new International Festival of Photography taking place in the Piedmont capital from 2 May to 2 June 2024. Drawing on one of the key themes in the Italian photographic tradition, the first edition of the Festival – under the artistic direction of Menno Liauw and Salvatore Vitale – is dedicated to the theme New Landscapes – Nuovi Paesaggi, and proposes a reflection on the current evolution of the photographic medium and the main challenges and innovations in the world of the image, through a programme of temporary exhibitions, meetings, talks and events in the venues of Turin’s main cultural institutions. Promoted by the City of Turin, the Piedmont Regional Council, the Turin Chamber of Commerce, Intesa Sanpaolo, Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo and Fondazione per l’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea CRT on behalf of Fondazione CRT and organised by Fondazione per la Cultura Torino, EXPOSED is the result of the desire to once again emphasise the city’s cultural and artistic vocation, which in initiatives revolving around creativity and innovation sees some of the territory’s driving forces powering development and growth, not only in terms of tourism.

The programme of the first edition features more than twenty temporary exhibitions, an artistic commission, two days of talks, an educational platform, an independent publishing salon, meetings, screenings, portfolio readings and other events, all made possible thanks to the involvement in the planning and production of Turin’s leading institutions, independent realities and the various players on the urban and international art scene.