Ayana V. Jackson

Ayana V. Jackson (born May 14, 1977) is an American photographer and filmmaker. Born in Livingston, New Jersey. She is best known for her focus on Contemporary Africa and the African Diaspora, most notably the series African by Legacy, Mexican by Birth, Leapfrog (a bit of the Other) Grand Matron Army, and Archival Impulse.

Biography Ayana Vellissia Jackson was born in Livingston, New Jersey and raised in East Orange, New Jersey where her family has long held residence. Her grandmother Angenetta Still Jackson, is a descendant of Leah Arthur Jones—a member of the founding family of New Jersey's first Black Settlement, Lawnside, New Jersey. Her grandfather, J. Garfield Jackson, was Essex County's first African American principal. The city of East Orange later named Jackson Academy elementary school after him. She traveled to Ghana in 2001, where she visited her family's compound in North Odorkor. During this trip she produced her first photography series, "Full Circle: A Survey of Hip Hop in Ghana."

Education Jackson initially studied sociology and photography during her undergraduate years at and received her B.A. in Sociology from Spelman College in 1999. In 2005, at the invitation of professor Katharina Sieverding, she studied critical theory and large-format printing at Berlin University of the Arts and continued her training at a series of photography residencies including the Bakery Photographic Collective and Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, France. Career Her photographic series "Full Circle: A Survey of Hip Hop in Ghana," "Viajes Personales," and "African by Legacy, Mexican by Birth" have been exhibited in association with Gallery MOMO (Johannesburg, RSA), Rush Arts Gallery (US), A Gathering of the Tribes (US), Galerie Peter Herrmann (Germany), Mexican Museum (US) the Franklin H. Williams CCC/African Diaspora Institute (US) and Culturesfrance (FR), the US State Department and the World Bank.

She has received grants from the Inter-American Foundation and Puma Creative; the latter supported her participation in the 2009 Bamako African Photography Biennial (Rencontres africaines de la photographie).

Her public art exhibitions include Round 32 of Project Row Houses (US) in Houston's 3rd ward.

Her photography can be found in publications including the exhibition catalogue for her series "African by Legacy, Mexican by Birth," "Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture, and Society" (Columbia University), Camera Austria, and the New York Times blog called Lens. She has lectured and conducted workshops at university and arts institutions in the US, Colombia. Mexico, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. Ayana V. Jackson got grants from the Marguerite Casey Foundation, Inter American Foundation, US State Department, French Institute and New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Fellowship for photography.

Full Circle: A Survey of Hip Hop in Ghana In "Full Circle," Jackson provides a visual documentary of the Ghanaian music scene, showing how Hip Hop has stretched past U.S. boundaries, including into Africa. "Full Circle" addresses the interplay between diasporic and Ghanaian communities and the influence both have on each other.

African by Legacy, Mexican by Birth In "African By Legacy, Mexican By Birth," the photographic work of Jackson and the narrative of Marco Villalobos brings insight in addressing the role of racial and cultural citizenship as it impacts the lives of African descendants in Mexico and throughout the Americas. The exhibition references the maroon Yanga of Mexico who fought for the liberation of enslaved people and assured the continuing presence of Afro Mexicans as a part of the African legacy in the Americas. Selections from "African By Legacy, Mexican by Birth" were presented throughout Latin America in venues such as Altos de Chavon, La Romana, Dominican Republic; La Fe Theater, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; Universidad Autonomia de Nicaragua and the Colsubsidio, Bogota, Colombia.

Film Jackson, Ayana V. and Marco Villalobos, Rompiendo el Silencio, 12 minutes Spanish/English subtitles

In collaboration with writer and filmmaker Marco Villalobos, Rompiendo el Silencio is Jackson & Villalobos's ongoing work in sound vision. A meditation on common struggle, a celebration of diversity, and a contemplation on the origins of modern maroonage. Rompiendo el Silencio frames history and urgency in the here and now. This film combines first-person narrative with images captured by Jackson and Villalobos on Super 8. Sound art composed by Marco Villalobos is mixed with interviews conducted during their 2003 and 2005 trips.

Exhibitions Solo Year Title Venue Country 2013 Gallery Sho Contemporary Art - Tokyo 2013 Archival Impulse and Poverty Pornography Baudoin Lebon Gallery Paris, France 2013 Archival Impulse MOMO Gallery Johannesburg, South Africa 2011 Projection surface MOMO Gallery Johannesburg, South Africa 2009 African by Legacy, Mexican by Birth Angkhor Photo Festival Cambodia 2008 Looking Glass Self Peter Hermann Gallery Berlin, Germany 2007African by Legacy, Mexican by BirthMijares Gallery in conjunction with UCLALos Angeles, CA2006 African by Legacy, Mexican by Birth Guadeloupe Arts Center San Antonio, Texas 2006 Viajes Personales Bluefields Indian and Caribbean University Bluefields, Nicaragua 2005 Instituto Universitario de Barlovento, Higuerote, Venezuela; Biblioteca Virgilio Barco, Bogota Colombia; UNAN-Leon, Leon, Nicaragua; Museo del Hombre, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic African By Legacy, Mexican by Birth (Series 1) Inter-America Foundation, National Council of La Raza, Inter-Agency Consultation on Race in Latin America Washington DC

Group Year Work Venue Country 2018 In Their Own Form Museum of Contemporary Photography Chicago, IL 2015 "Does the brown paper bag test really exist? Will my father be proud?" 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair, Mariane Ibrahim Gallery New York, NY 2010 ECO, SEGAW, ECHO, XIANG Project Row Houses Round 32 Houston, Texas 2010 The Mothership has Landed Rush Arts New York, NY 2009 8th Bamako Encounters / African Photography Biennial - Bamako, Mali 2008 The Shoot Out: A Lonely Crusade, Homage to Jamel ShabazzThe George and Leah McKenna Museum of African American ArtNew Orleans, LA 2007 Post Millennial Black Madonna Paradise/ Inferno Museum of Contemporary African Diasporic Art (MoCADA) and Skylight Gallery Brooklyn, NY 2006 The Shoot Out African American Museum Philadelphia, PA2003 Full Circle: A Survey Of Hip Hop in Ghana The World bank DC