Michaël Zumstein — Aka Zidane
Exhibition from 22 February to 30 March 2024
Galerie Maupetit
142 La Canebière, Marseille 1
Aka Zidane is a photographic project carried out in Africa.
The “soccer jersey” worn every day by thousands of young Africans as a contemporary hero’s costume reveals an original state of affairs. Michaël Zumstein was a soccer fan as a child, and has been a photographer in Africa for 15 years. Today, he recognizes his own people: those who wear the jersey and project themselves into lives other than their own.
“Who are the Ronaldo, Messi, and Zidane that I meet in Africa?
By juxtaposing these doubles of world-famous footballers with the ordinary or tragic situations of several countries on the continent, the photographic series Aka Zidane (Also Known As Zidane), tells us that other games are being played there. Ronaldinho, the Brazilian striker, is in the hospital in Bangui where his friend has just died in his arms. In Libya, Olivier Giroud, the Arsenal striker, is imprisoned before he can board a plane to Europe.
Under these aliases, and by diverting the codes of journalistic narration, Aka Zidane gives us a glimpse of the place and magnitude of men’s and women’s lives hidden under the soccer shirts.”
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Michaël Zumstein
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Hôtel Paul Delaroche
58 rue Saint Lazare, 75009 Paris
+33 1 53 01 85 85
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