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Pour rappel : le "West African Image Lab" est un séminaire international qui se tiendra à Porto-Novo, au Bénin, en avril 2014, et constituera à n'en pas douter un événement majeur quant au développement d'une réflexion commune sur les techniques et politiques de préservation des archives photographiques en Afrique.Soutenant vivement le projet de nos collègues Jennifer Bajorek et Erin Haney, nous diffusons ici l'information qu'elles nous font parvenir : le lancement d'une campagne visant à financer la participation de douze candidats (sur les 20 sélectionnés, voir la liste ci-dessous) résidant hors du Bénin.Lisez et diffusez cet appel sans modération !Ezechiel Mehome travaillant dans les archives négatives de son père, Edouard Méhomé, à Porto-Novo.---Dear friends and colleagues,All across Africa, irreplaceable photographic collections are rapidly disappearing. We are losing these collections not only through lack of preservation resources, but also through theft and resale of valuable prints and negatives in other parts of the world. According to researchers at the École du Patrimoine Africain (an NGO dedicated to cultural heritage preservation in Africa), one country, Benin, will lose all of its significant collections of vintage prints and negatives within 3-5 years if immediate measures are not taken to preserve them. This problem is widespread in Africa, where archivists and conservators lack the material resources, techniques, and professional networks to ensure access to this visual patrimony for future generations.In response to this challenge, the non-profit organization Resolution, together with an international team of photograph conservation professionals, is holding a seminar—the West African Image Lab—to provide technical training in photograph preservation in Africa, 22-25 April 2014, in Porto Novo, Benin. The enthusiastic response to the announcement of this program far exceeded our expectations. 20 highly qualified, talented, and dedicated candidates representing significant collections across Africa have been accepted. But 12 participants living outside of Benin are currently unable to attend due to lack of funds. Neither they nor their institutions have the financial resources to support their participation. We are therefore seeking private donations to cover the cost of travel, lodging, and living expenses for these participants, including Ms. Célestine Korsaga and Mr. Silas Matope, profiled in the attached documentation, in hopes of meeting this critical budget shortfall of $12,000.We are appealing to you to donate. $1,000 will cover the cost of travel and four days of lodging and living expenses for one of these promising cultural heritage professionals. Donations of $500 or $250 will be combined to create a travel package for a seminar participant. Contributions in any amount will make a difference.The costs for participants are modest, especially considering the exponentially large benefits that will arise from this training. In addition to gaining technical knowledge, exchanging vital information, and establishing trans-African professional networks, seminar participants will lay the groundwork for a series of future workshops in other African countries. Archivists, museum professionals, gallerists, curators, and a younger generation of photographers and artists who work with historic and archival photographs will come together to pioneer efforts to stop the destruction of Africa’s photographic heritage.We hope you will join us in ensuring the future of this irreplaceable heritage.Erin Haney and Jennifer Bajorek, Co-founders and Co-directors of ResolutionClick here to make a tax-deductible donation (by either check or credit card), and to learn more:https://www.artspire.org/DirectoryDetail/tabid/95/id/1450/Default.aspx---Participants coming from outside BeninAsiimwe, Richard – Staff, Ugandan National MuseumAthie, Adama Harouna – Staff, Theodore Monod Museum of African Art, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, SenegalBâ, Alioune – Staff, National Museum of Mali, Bamako, MaliBamba, Adama – Artist/photographer, for his father’s archive, Bamako, MaliBuitruille, Michel – Artist/photographer, for the Louis Normand archive, Abidjan, Côte d’IvoireCamara, Ismaïla – Staff, Centre de Recherches et de Documentation du Sénégal (CRDS), Saint-Louis, SenegalDaSilva, Luc – Artist/photographer, for the archives of Roger DaSilva and Baïdy Sow, Dakar, SenegalFall, Fatima – Curator/director, Centre de Recherches et de Documentation du Sénégal (CRDS), Saint-Louis, Senegal (special instructor)Korsaga, Zagré Célestine – Staff, Archives Nationales du Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou, Burkina FasoLéki Dago, Ananias – Artist/photographer, for the Paul Kodjo archive, Abidjan, Côte d’IvoireMarket Photo Workshop – Director of Public Programming, Johannesburg, South AfricaMatope, Silas – Staff, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, Harare, ZimbabweMolema, Moiloa – Consultant, Market Photo Workshop, Johannesburg, South AfricaOgunsanya, Dapo – Artist/photographer, for the archive of Ikorodu Township, Lagos, NigeriaOjeikere, Amaize – Artist/photographer, for the J.D. ’Okhai Ojeikere archive, Lagos, NigeriaSilva, Bisi – Curator/director, Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Lagos, NigeriaStultiens, Andrea – Artist/photographer, for misc. Ugandan archives, Kampala, UgandaThiam, Ibrahima – Artist/photographer, for misc. Senegalese archives including the Meïssa Gaye archive, Dakar, SenegalYahaya, Mudi – Artist/photographer, for the archive of the Zaria/Zazzau Emirate, Zaria, NigeriaInvited participants from BeninAdjovi, Benoît – Artist/photographer, for his own archive, Cotonou, BeninAgbodjelou, Léonce – Artist/photographer, for his father’s archive, Porto-Novo, BeninAmédé, Mireille Chantal – Staff, Musée Honmé, Porto-Novo, BeninHounkpévi, Albert – Curator/director, Musée Ethnographique d’Alexandre Senou Adandé, Porto-Novo, BeninMéhomé, Ezéchiel – Artist/photographer, for his father’s archive, Porto-Novo, BeninMahamé, Sonia – Staff, Direction des Archives Nationales, Porto-Novo, BeninOlibé, Alphonse – Staff, Centre Béninois de Recherche Scientifique et Technique (CBRST), Porto-Novo, BeninThe West African Image Lab is an initiative of Resolution, an international NGO dedicated to photography and photo collections in Africa, in partnership with the University of Delaware, Department of Art Conservation and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Photograph Conservation, in the USA, and the Centre pour la Recherche sur la Conservation des Collections, France. The West African Image Lab team gratefully acknowledges the support of our funders: the University of Delaware, Department of Art Conservation and Institute for Global Studies, Tru-Vue Museum Glass, University Products, C2RMF at the Louvre Museum, Deloitte, and our many generous individual donors.