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During the 22nd edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity, the National Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw will host the opening of the photography exhibition "Ernest Cole: A Lens in Exile’, in collaboration with Autograph, London and Magnum Photos. The exhibition is curated by Mark Sealy. The exceptional works of this renowned photographer, which have traveled worldwide, will be presented to the Polish audience for the first time—two days before the festival begins—on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. The exhibition will remain at the National Ethnographic Museum until the end of August. Accompanying the exhibition will be the premiere of "Ernest Cole: Lost and Found", a film by Oscar®-nominated director Raoul Peck, as part of the 22nd MDAG. The festival will take place in seven cities (Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Bydgoszcz, and Łódź) from May 9 to 19, followed by an online edition from May 20 to June 2 on mdag.pl.
USA, 1971. © Ernest Cole / Magnum PhotosPhotography Exhibition: "Ernest Cole: A Lens in Exile" Best known for his radical images documenting the violence of apartheid, Cole fled South Africa in 1966 and was officially made stateless in 1968. In a televised interview in 1969 he expressed a hope of being liberated from the day-to-day experience of racism. Focused on the humanity of everyday life, Cole spent his first years in New York City photographing Harlem and Manhattan, focusing his lens on the experience of living in a racialised America. Framed against the struggle for civil rights, Cole captured moments of emergent black awakenings, unfolding within public and private spaces by the forces of Black Pride and Black Power. These remarkably intuitive photographs – documenting protest, politics and daily existence – were forged through a transgressive challenge to the status quo of American society. Despite Cole’s observant eye confronting America in transition, these social documentary images revealed a chasm. Disillusioned and isolated in exile, he began to reflect that the systemic exclusion and segregation he experienced in South Africa was also prevalent in America. In his own words “it wasn’t any better: there was no freedom”. The photographs displayed in the exhibition were taken between 1967–1972, representing a small chapter of Cole’s 45,000 images taken while in exile. In 2017, thousands of his negatives believed to have been missing for more than 40 years were discovered in a Stockholm bank vault. The Ernest Cole Family Trust was subsequently established to ensure Cole's important photographic legacy is preserved. The Director of the National Ethnographic Museum, Dr. Magdalena Wróblewska, speaks about the presentation of Cole’s photographs in Warsaw as follows: The exhibition of Ernest Cole's photographs at the National Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw will be another voice in the matters we address in the program "Against Stereotypes": social exclusions, racial prejudices, as well as the affirmation of Black communities and cultures, their pride, and strength. From the Museum's perspective, the issue of photographic representation, created on their own terms, from within the communities and against the oppressive stereotypes perpetuated for decades through photography, is particularly important. The negatives of Cole's work, discovered after many years, allow us to look at social issues related to racial segregation in the USA, systemic discrimination, and violence through the evocative images created by the photographer in exile, after fleeing South Africa, where he documented the violence of apartheid. They not only captured systemic violence and social inequalities but also the strength and agency of communities in their fight for their rights. Karol Piekarczyk, Artistic Director of MDAG, highlights the significance of introducing Ernest Cole’s work to the Polish audience: The opportunity to present the ‘A Lens in Exile’ series in Poland for the first time, in collaboration with Magnum Photos and Autograph, is a dream come true. Ernest Cole masterfully combined reportage, street photography, and artistic composition. His work seamlessly weaves these styles into a cohesive narrative, offering us a deeply moving and visually stunning perspective on the world through the eyes of a sharp and critical observer. In ‘A Lens in Exile,’ stories of oppression intertwine with depictions of everyday life in the U.S. His photography reflects an extraordinary sensitivity to human relationships, fear, friendship, loss, and love. Cole always meticulously selected his artistic tools—whether color, framing, or composition—based on the subject at hand. As a result, each photograph tells its own multi-layered story, placing the expressions of his subjects within a rich urban landscape.
USA, 1971. © Ernest Cole / Magnum PhotosFilm Premiere: Ernest Cole: Lost and Found Oscar-nominated director Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) returns to Millennium Docs Against Gravity with his latest documentary, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found. The film explores the life and work of Ernest Cole, one of South Africa’s first Black independent photographers. His early images, shocking at the time of their release, exposed the harsh realities of life for Black communities under apartheid. After fleeing South Africa in 1966, Cole lived in exile in the United States, where he intensely photographed both New York and the American South. He was fascinated by how the country could be both radically different and eerily similar to the segregationist culture of his homeland. During this period, he published his groundbreaking photobook House of Bondage, a searing condemnation of apartheid. Though banned in South Africa, the book cemented Cole’s reputation as one of the most important photographers of his time—when he was just 27 years old. Following his death, more than 60,000 of his 35mm film negatives were unexpectedly discovered in a bank vault in Stockholm. These negatives, previously thought lost forever, included thousands of photographs Cole had taken in the U.S. Through his own writings, testimonies from those who knew him best, and his uncompromising photography, Ernest Cole: Lost and Found reintroduces a crucial Black artist to a new generation.
New York City, USA, Circa 1971. © Ernest Cole / Magnum PhotosThe "Ernest Cole: A Lens in Exile" exhibition, curated by Mark Sealy, Director of Autograph and Professor of Photography - Rights and Representation, University of the Arts London, will be held at the National Ethnographic Museum in Warsaw from May 7 to August 31, 2025. It is organized by the Millennium Docs Against Gravity festival in collaboration with Autograph, London and Magnum Photos. |
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The 22nd MDAG will take place from May 9 to 18, 2025, in cinemas in Warsaw, Wrocław, Gdynia, Poznań, Katowice, Bydgoszcz, and Łódź, and from May 20 to June 2 online at mdag.pl! The festival’s title sponsor is Bank Millennium. (https://www.bankmillennium.pl/).
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