033 | Léon l'africain (Rhizome), 2020
"Description de l’Afrique (Rhizome), 2019", vu de l'exposition "la présence de l’image, participe à sa disparition", Galerie Imane Fares Paris 2019.
The main research theme of the Descriptions de l’Afrique [Descriptions of Africa] series
is the history of the emergence of images. Harraki uses illustrations by Leo Africanus, a 16th century Muslim explorer and diplomat who converted to Christianity. Now largely forgotten, Leo wrote Cosmographia de l’Affrica, a reference book describing Africa that was widely disseminated at the time and contributed to building the legend of Timbuktu among the European public. Although the human being is traditionally not represented in the history of Islam, it is so with Leo Africanus. Harraki adds new layers of meaning by reproducing the illustrations that accompany the text on concrete blocks, which are an ambivalent medium.
— Loïc Le Gall
