# 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 stimulating visual documentary of the Ghanaian music scene. Not often are we able to visualize how Hip Hop has stretched past our U.S. boundaries, especially into Africa. "Full Circle" allows viewers to engage intimately in the appropriated, reshaped culture. She reveals to us- through examination of musicians and industry professionals- that an ostensibly lucrative western model has swayed the creation of Hip Life. Nonetheless, Jackson softens the edges of Hip Life adding warmth and character to each photo, making each more inviting to the audience and compelling us to form our own opinions of how and why Hip Life is transformative. Such fluidity is necessary in developing discussions of cultural metamorphosis.

### African by Legacy, Mexican by Birth

In "African By Legacy, Mexican By Birth," the extraordinary photographic work of Jackson and the powerful narrative of Marco Villalobos brings inspired 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 actively speaks to the spirit of the maroon Yanga of Mexico who valiantly fought for the liberation of his people and assured the continuing presence of Afro Mexicans as an integral part of our 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 |
| 2007 | African by Legacy, Mexican by Birth | Mijares Gallery in conjunction with UCLA | Los Angeles, CA |
| 2006 | 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 Shabazz | The George and Leah McKenna Museum of African American Art | New 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, PA |
| 2003 | Full Circle: A Survey Of Hip Hop in Ghana | The World bank | DC |