Sanna (born in 1989) is a photographic artist from Nosy Be, an island from Madagascar.
In 2013, he began photographing Madagascar, which became the main focus of his reflections through images. Composed mainly of analog photographs and photographic objects that he create himself in the darkroom, Sanna's practice is based on a sentimental and subjective experience with the world. As a mixed-race individual, part-native and part-foreigner, his relationship with his country is ambivalent, which has developed a unique photographic style, with ambiguous and poetic photographs. His practice is about the act of seeing and « being there ». This confrontation with reality is what matter, the act of seeing something and relating to it, to feel existing by photographing.
Sanna has taken part in exhibitions both nationally and internationally. He has had collective shows at the Manifesto festival (Toulouse), Aperture Summer Open (New York), The 11th edition of the Bamako Meetings, Almost Home (Paris), but also solo exhibitions such as at the French Institute of Antananarivo, as well as at the Foundation H in France and Antananarivo.
Sanna’s works are part of private and public collections including in The National Museum of Mali, Fondation H (Madagascar), and Collection Yavarhoussen (Madagascar).
He currently lives and work between Antananarivo (Mdg) and Paris (Fr).
Solo exhibitions
- 2021 : Chère Embona, Fondation H Antananarivo, Madagascar.
- 2020 : Lettres à Embona, Fondation H Paris, France.
- 2018 : Moraingy, Institut Français d’Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Collectives exhibitions
- 2019 : ALMOST HOME, Galerie RX, Paris, France.
- 2018 : Fady Kambana, Les promenades photographiques de Vendôme, France.
- 2018 : The Way We Live Now, Aperture Gallery, New York, USA.
- 2017 : Afrotopia, Les Rencontres de Bamako, Biennale panafricaine, Mali.
- 2017 : Traversé(e)s, Résidence 1+2, Musée Paul Dupuis, Toulouse.
- 2016 : Fady Kambana / Moraingy, Festival Manifesto, Toulouse.
- 2015 : Fady Kambana, Sommet Africain de l’ONU, Antananarivo, Madagascar.
Prize, books and residencies
- 2021 : Livret Chère Embona, lors du solo à la Fondation H Antananarivo, Madagascar.
- 2018 : Mention spéciale prix LCC Program, Casablanca, Maroc.
- 2017 : Édition collectiveTraversé(e)s Résidence 1+2, aux Éditions Filigranes, France.
- 2016 : Grand Prix ETPA, Toulouse, France.
Public and private collection
- Collection du Musée National du Mali, Bamako.
- Collection de la Fondation H, Madagascar.
- Collection Yavarhoussen, Madagascar.