In the framework of Abu Dhabi Art, we are delighted to announce Joana Choumali's Book Launch, followed by a talk with curator and art consultant Awa Konaté.
ABOUT JOANA CHOUMALI, ALBA'HIAN
Alba’hian is a monograph devoted to artist Joana Choumali’s eponymous series. It sheds light on her practice of embroidered photography through images and insightful analyses by three authors and curators — Maria Pia Bernardoni, Nadine Hounkpatin, and Professor Yacouba Konaté — all close to the artist.
Alba’hian arose while Choumali was admiring the sunrise and watching the city awaken. Her delicately embroidered photographs immerse the viewer in the same contemplative state as her subjects. This book conveys the poetry that infuses the artist’s gentle and meditative imagery.
ABOUT AWA KONATÉ
Awa Konaté is an independent curator, art consultant, and founder of Culture Art Society (CAS), a platform dedicated to research and exhibitions on African and diasporic contemporary art. Her curatorial practice spans acquisitions, collection strategy, and commissions, and draws on archival research, Black feminist pedagogies, and memory work. She is particularly interested in interdisciplinary practices by artists of African descent and their resonance within global contemporary art.
Konaté has curated, consulted, and developed international exhibitions and public programmes for institutions including Serpentine Galleries, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Raven Row, the Barbican, among others. Her writing has been widely published, with contributions to Third Text, Foam Magazine, and Phaidon, as well as to publications by the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, Zeitz MOCAA, the Brooklyn Museum, and others. She previously served as Assistant Curator at the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
DETAILS OF THE EVENT
To be confirmed
20 November 2025
