The Prophecy

Fabrice Monteiro, Belgian-Beninese, born 1972

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2013-2015

Digital print

Image: 15 3/4 × 23 5/8 in. (40 × 60 cm)

Sheet: 24 × 28 3/4 in. (61 × 73 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through a gift from Evelyn A. and William B. Jaffe, Class of 1964H, by exchange

2017.24.1

Geography

Place Made: Benin, Western Africa, Africa

Period

21st century

Object Name

Photograph

Research Area

Africa

Photograph

Not on view

Label

Shot in different locations in Senegal, Fabrice Monteiro’s series The Prophecy highlights environmental degradation and speaks broadly to excessive consumption and the resulting waste produced around the world. Incorporating traditional African belief systems and storytelling, each of the photographs features a figure, which the artist considers a spirit, set in a polluted landscape. A local designer, Doulsy, created the figures’ elaborate costumes from detritus. These spirits highlight ecological crises, addressing specific issues such as plastic waste and global warming. While one may see these as images of potential futures, Monteiro argues: We already live in a dystopian world. When we are confronting an issue that is global, like what we are going through now with global warming, and then on the other side, nations are getting more and more ego-centric, to me it’s a total dystopian situation.

From the 2019 exhibition New Landscapes: Contemporary Responses to Globalization, curated by Jessica Hong, Associate Curator of Global Contemporary Art

Course History

ANTH 50.18, Anthropocene Imaginaries, Tracey Heatherington, Spring 2019

ENGL 75.2, Climate Fiction, Alysia Garrison, Spring 2019

FREN 2.03, Introductory French, Kelly McConnell, Fall 2019

ANTH 50.17, Rites of Passage, Sienna Craig, Spring 2020

HIST 66/AAAS 15, History of Africa Since 1800, Naaborko Sackeyfio-Lenoch, Winter 2021

FRENCH 11.01, Intensive French, Kelly McConnell, Winter 2022

GEOG 72.01/AAAS 67.50/WGSS 66.09, Black Consciousness Black Feminism, Abby Neely, Spring 2022

SART 30/SART 75, Photography II/III, Virginia Beahan, Spring 2022

HIST 5.08/AAAS 19, Africa and the World, Naaborko Sackeyfio-Lenoch, Summer 2022

HIST 5.08/AAAS 19, Africa and the World, Naaborko Sackeyfio-Lenoch, Summer 2022

HIST 5.08/AAAS 19, Africa and the World, Naaborko Sackeyfio-Lenoch, Summer 2022

FREN 11.01, Intensive French, Kelly McConnell, Fall 2022

French 2.01, Introductory French II, Kelly McConnell, Winter 2023

French 2.02, Introductory French II, Kelly McConnell, Winter 2023

French 2.01, Introductory French II, Kelly McConnell, Spring 2023

French 2.02, Introductory French II, Kelly McConnell, Spring 2023

Exhibition History

New Landscapes: Contemporary Responses to Globalization, Class of 1967 Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, June 15-August 18, 2019.

Provenance

Mariane Ibrahim, Seattle, Washington; sold to present collection, 2017.

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