Telling Time explores the complex relationship between images and time. Inspired by Mali’s rich traditions of storytelling and the nation’s recent political realities, the biennale questions how artists narrate real and imagined experiences focusing especially on politics and social change. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Bamako Encounters, this year’s biennale publication is unique in its content and design. The publication extends its focus beyond the current edition of the biennale through a special supplement section devoted to the biennale’s history and its future. Embodying multiple temporalities, the book chronicles the event’s 20-year history through essays, interviews, a timeline, and archival documentation including a complete reprint of the catalog that accompanied the biennale’s 1994 inaugural edition. The publication features original essays on all of this year’s participating artists and special projects, as well as high-quality reproductions of artworks. By charting the impact, transformation, and present history of the Encounters, the book serves as an invaluable resource for interpreting and historicising the biennale’s contributions to Mali’s cultural patrimony and contemporary photography in Africa.

Authors and Contributors: Julie Bonzon, Antawan I. Byrd, Yves Chatap, Emma Chubb, Teju Cole, Dagara Dakin, Madame N’diaye Ramatoulaye Diallo, Maud Houssais, Candace Keller, Abdoulaye Konaté, Moussa Konaté, Hansi Momodu-Gordon, Guilhem Monceaux, Levi Nauidu- Mitchell, Erika Nimis, Simon Njami, Denis Pietton, Moses Serubiri, Samuel Sidibé, Bisi Silva and Mantchini Traoré