Ananias Leki Dago

Ananias Leki Dago is a graduate of the Institut National Supérieur de l'Action et de l'Animation Culturelle in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.[4][5]

During a period of exile living in Europe, resulting from political unrest in his native Côte d'Ivoire,[1][2] he worked for magazines such as Africultures and Regards.[6] From 1997 to 2001, he served as the Official Photographer for the Marché des arts et du spectacle africains (MASA), based in Abidjan.[7]

His photographs have been exhibited in museums and cultural spaces such as the Centre Pompidou[8] and the Musée de l’Histoire de l'Immigration in Paris, France; Fondation Donwahi[2][9] in Abidjan; the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden; the Philadelphia Museum of Art[10][11] in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and the Biennale of Contemporary African Art (Dak'Art)[12] in Dakar, Senegal, and are part of the permanent collections of institutions such as the Fundació Vila Casas[13] in Barcelona, Spain; the Fondation Sindika Dokolo in Luanda, Angola; the Harlem Studio Museum in New York, New York; the Philadelphia Museum of Art;[5] the Musée du Quai Branly[14] and the Galeries Photo Fnac in Paris, France, as well as various international private collections.[2]

In 2019, Ananias Leki Dago represented the Côte d'Ivoire at the Biennale di Venezia, in Venice, Italy, participating in the exhibit "Ivory Coast: The Open Shadows of Memory".[15]

Founder of the first international photography festival in Abidjan, Les Rencontres du Sud,[6] and restorer of the negatives of Paul Kodjo - the "Father of Ivorian photography",[16][17][14] Ananias Leki Dago is the author of five publications featuring his photographic works: Ananias Leki-Dago, photographe (Les éditions de l'oeil, 2003), Shebeen Blues (Éditions Gang, 2010), Mabati (Native Intelligence and Goethe-Institut Kenia, 2013), La Nawa (Éditions Gang, Conseil Régional de la Nawa, 2016), and Rainy Days Abidjan (Éditions Éburnie, 2019).[18][19][5] He has also served as a photographer in residence for established artistic programs in Europe, Africa, and the Caribbean.[2]

• Ananias Leki Dago, photographe, by Ananias Leki Dago (photographs) and Yann Le Goff (text), Les éditions de l'œil, Paris, 2003
  (French, Monograph, Softcover, 165x120mm, full colour, 24 pgs.) ISBN 978-2-912415-70-7
• Shebeen Blues: The Wheel is Still in Spin, by Ananias Leki Dago (photographs) and Mongane Wally Serote (text), Éditions Gang, Ivry-sur-Seine, 2010
  (French, 240x220mm, 122 pgs.) ISBN 978-2-918376-02-6
• Mabati, by Ananias Leki Dago (photographs) and Billy Kahora (essays), edited by Contact Zones, Contact Zones NRB 06,
  Native Intelligence and Goethe-Institut Kenia, Nairobi, 2013
  (English, 22 cm, 104 pgs.) ISBN 978-9-966155-34-4
• La Nawa, by Ananias Leki Dago (photographs) and Érika Nimis (Ed., "Devoir de mémoire" (text), by Ananias Leki Dago), Éditions Gang, Conseil Régional de la Nawa, in co-production with Emerge and See!, and in co-publication with NEI-CEDA, Côte d'Ivoire, 2016
  (French, 25x35cm, limited edition of 2000 copies, 184 pgs.)
• Rainy Days Abidjan, by Ananias Leki Dago, Éditions Éburnie, Abidjan, 2019

• Ysasu: La Mode dans la rue André del Sarte (2007), directed by Yvonne Michele Anderson (Ruth Rachel Anderson-Avraham) (Still Photographer)
• Nous sommes (2007; dist. 2012) (Photographies / Still Photographer)
• Ananias Léki Dago - Photographe. (2016), directed by Sibylle Desjardins for the Fondation Zinsou (Soi-même / Himself, Photographies / Still Photographer)
• Je reste photographe (2022), directed by Ananias Léki Dago (Soi-même / Himself, Photographies / Still Photographer)

• 2004 - Distinction, Kodak Prize of Critical Photography, Paris, France
• 2009 - First Prize, PhotoAfrica context, Tarifa, Spain

• Contemporary African Art
• Culture of Côte d'Ivoire

• Ananias Leki Dago, Official Name Authority File, BnF (Bibliothèque nationale de France)
• Ananias Leki Dago on Facebook