In partnership with Magnum Foundation, CPW presents a group exhibition of five international contemporary photographers. “Counter Histories” includes artists Tamara Abdul Hadi, Alan Chin, Naomieh Jovin, Billy H.C. Kwok, and Qiana Mestrich. These artists confront difficult histories by reconstructing perspectives that have been omitted from previously accepted or official accounts. Their deeply personal visual narratives are reconstructed out of found images derived from family photo albums, books, magazines, or community archives. The works in “Counter Histories” ask probing questions about our construction of the past, such as, What new meanings are suggested by the absences and silences one finds in archives and historical records? How can artists engage with histories that are not photographed? How can these revisionist archives contribute to fuller understandings of the past and future?
Counter Histories is organized by Magnum Foundation with the support of The Henry Luce Foundation. The exhibition is accompanied by the Spring 2024 issue of Aperture magazine, “Counter Histories,” produced in collaboration with Magnum Foundation.
Additional support for the Counter Histories Initiative is provided by The Fledgling Fund, the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon/ACLS Early Career Fellowships, the William Talbott Hillman Foundation, and Columbia University’s Brown Institute for Media Innovation.
Image: © Qiana Mestrich



