Skip to content
Joana Choumali - Artists - Sperone Westwater

Untitled (Ça Va Aller), 2019

Joana Choumali was born in 1974 in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where she lives and works. She studied graphic arts in Casablanca and initially worked as an art director in advertising before pursuing photography. Choumali’s early practice focused on documentary portraits of the people of Africa. Her recent work builds upon the intimacy of her early portraits by incorporating textiles and colorful embroidery directly onto her photographic images. Choumali is the first African winner of the prestigious Prix Pictet, an annual honor for photography and sustainability, which she won in 2019 for her series Ça Va Aller. The prize culminated in “Hope,” an international traveling exhibition spanning numerous venues, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Daikanyama Hillside Forum, Tokyo, the Mouravieff-Apostol House & Museum, Moscow, as well as venues in Zurich, Shanghai, Dublin, Monaco, and Milan (2019-22). Her work has also been featured in exhibitions worldwide, including the Royal Academy of Arts, London (2021-22); Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden, Marrakech (2019-20); Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town (2019); and the Musée d’Histoire Naturelle, Le Havre (2017). In 2017, Choumali was included in the Côte d’Ivoire Pavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale. She was named the 2020 Robert Gardner Fellow in Photography by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University and was awarded residencies with Nirox Foundation, Johannesburg (2017) and the IFITRY Residency, Essaouira, Morocco (2016; 2015). In 2021, Choumali was awarded L’ordre national de la république de Côte d’Ivoire. Collections owning her work include The Metropolitan Museum of Art; High Museum of Art, Atlanta; Harvard Art Museums; Musée de la Photographie de Saint Louis, Senegal; Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL), Marrakech; Pérez Art Museum Miami; Prix Pictet Collection; and Victoria and Albert Museum, London. “Joana Choumali: Languages of West African Marketplaces,” the artist’s first institutional solo exhibition in the United States, is on view at Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 25 January – 11 May 2025.

Downloadables

Joana Choumali CV

Artworks

Artworks Thumbnails
Joana Choumali

MY HEART HAS ENOUGH ROOM FOR BOTH OF US, 2024

mixed media, embroidery, paint, manual collage, sheer fabric, and digital photograph printed on canvas

30 1/2 x 31 inches (77,5 x 78,7 cm) 32 1/4 x 32 3/4 x 2 1/4 inches (81,9 x 83,2 x 5,7 cm) frame

Joana Choumali

MY HEART HAS ENOUGH ROOM FOR BOTH OF US, 2024

mixed media, embroidery, paint, manual collage, sheer fabric, and digital photograph printed on canvas

30 1/2 x 31 inches (77,5 x 78,7 cm) 32 1/4 x 32 3/4 x 2 1/4 inches (81,9 x 83,2 x 5,7 cm) frame

Inquire
Joana Choumali

I LOVE YOU TOO, 2023

mixed media, embroidery, paint, manual collage, sheer fabric, and digital photograph printed on canvas

31 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches (80 x 80 cm) 32 1/2 x 33 3/8 x 2 5/8 inches (82,6 x 84,8 x 6,7 cm) frame

Joana Choumali

I LOVE YOU TOO, 2023

mixed media, embroidery, paint, manual collage, sheer fabric, and digital photograph printed on canvas

31 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches (80 x 80 cm) 32 1/2 x 33 3/8 x 2 5/8 inches (82,6 x 84,8 x 6,7 cm) frame

framed artwork of two young people to the left side and two older people sitting around a table, in front of a body of water.

Joana Choumali
WHOSE PEACE IS IT KEEPING?, 2024
mixed media, embroidery, paint, manual collage, sheer fabric, and digital photograph printed on canvas
triptych; 38 1/8 x 57 3/8 inches (96,8 x 145,7 cm)
39 7/8 x 59 1/8 x 2 1/4 inches (101,3 x 150,2 x 5,7 cm) frame
SW 24048

framed embroidered artwork of a woman wearing a white dress holding out one hand to the side and appearing to float on a body of water

Joana Choumali
THE RAIN IS GONE, 2024
mixed media, embroidery, paint, manual collage, sheer fabric, and digital photograph printed on canvas
triptych; 56 5/8 x 38 1/2 inches (143,2 x 97,8 cm)
58 5/8 x 40 1/8 x 2 1/4 inches (148,9 x 101,9 x 5,7 cm) frame
SW 24047

Inquire
Joana Choumali
THE DREAM THAT STAYED WITH YOU WHEN YOU WOKE UP, 2022
embroidery, paint and collage on digital photography printed on canvas
4 parts; 38 7/8 x 78 inches (98,7 x 198,1 cm)
40 5/8 x 80 1/4 inches (103,2 x 203,8 cm) frame
SW 22014
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia

Joana Choumali
THE DREAM THAT STAYED WITH YOU WHEN YOU WOKE UP, 2022
embroidery, paint and collage on digital photography printed on canvas
4 parts; 38 7/8 x 78 inches (98,7 x 198,1 cm)
40 5/8 x 80 1/4 inches (103,2 x 203,8 cm) frame
SW 22014
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia

Group of men wearing white clothing and gold crowns sitting on a dock, with gold leaves flowing above their heads set against a sunrise.

Joana Choumali
WE ARE STILL NOW, 2022
mixed media
4 parts; 38 1/2 x 78 inches (97,8 x 198,1 cm)
40 3/8 x 80 inches (102,6 x 203,2 cm) frame
SW 22013
Private Collection

Four children in white clothes standing on beach, looking into the sunrise over the water. Three holding hands and the third with back towards viewer.

Joana Choumali
WHEN THE LIGHT WHISPERS TO US, 2022
mixed media
triptych; 38 3/4 x 59 inches (98,4 x 149,9 cm)
40 5/8 x 60 7/8 inches (103,2 x 154,6 cm) frame
SW 22012
Private Collection

Women in pink walking past a house, with embroidered white rays emanating from her to the edges of the composition.

Joana Choumali
Untitled (Ça Va Aller), 2019
mixed media
9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches (24 x 24 cm)
16 1/4 x 16 1/4 inches (41,3 x 41,3 cm) frame
SW 21131
Private Collection

A man and woman talking with red embroidery connecting their faces, next to an off-white house against a rust-colored embroidered backdrop.

Joana Choumali
Untitled (Ça Va Aller), 2019
mixed media
9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches (24 x 24 cm)
16 1/4 x 16 1/4 inches (41,3 x 41,3 cm) frame
SW 21127
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Joana Choumali

MY HEART HAS ENOUGH ROOM FOR BOTH OF US, 2024

mixed media, embroidery, paint, manual collage, sheer fabric, and digital photograph printed on canvas

30 1/2 x 31 inches (77,5 x 78,7 cm) 32 1/4 x 32 3/4 x 2 1/4 inches (81,9 x 83,2 x 5,7 cm) frame

Joana Choumali

MY HEART HAS ENOUGH ROOM FOR BOTH OF US, 2024

mixed media, embroidery, paint, manual collage, sheer fabric, and digital photograph printed on canvas

30 1/2 x 31 inches (77,5 x 78,7 cm) 32 1/4 x 32 3/4 x 2 1/4 inches (81,9 x 83,2 x 5,7 cm) frame

Joana Choumali

I LOVE YOU TOO, 2023

mixed media, embroidery, paint, manual collage, sheer fabric, and digital photograph printed on canvas

31 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches (80 x 80 cm) 32 1/2 x 33 3/8 x 2 5/8 inches (82,6 x 84,8 x 6,7 cm) frame

Joana Choumali

I LOVE YOU TOO, 2023

mixed media, embroidery, paint, manual collage, sheer fabric, and digital photograph printed on canvas

31 1/2 x 31 1/2 inches (80 x 80 cm) 32 1/2 x 33 3/8 x 2 5/8 inches (82,6 x 84,8 x 6,7 cm) frame

framed artwork of two young people to the left side and two older people sitting around a table, in front of a body of water.

Joana Choumali
WHOSE PEACE IS IT KEEPING?, 2024
mixed media, embroidery, paint, manual collage, sheer fabric, and digital photograph printed on canvas
triptych; 38 1/8 x 57 3/8 inches (96,8 x 145,7 cm)
39 7/8 x 59 1/8 x 2 1/4 inches (101,3 x 150,2 x 5,7 cm) frame
SW 24048

framed embroidered artwork of a woman wearing a white dress holding out one hand to the side and appearing to float on a body of water

Joana Choumali
THE RAIN IS GONE, 2024
mixed media, embroidery, paint, manual collage, sheer fabric, and digital photograph printed on canvas
triptych; 56 5/8 x 38 1/2 inches (143,2 x 97,8 cm)
58 5/8 x 40 1/8 x 2 1/4 inches (148,9 x 101,9 x 5,7 cm) frame
SW 24047

Joana Choumali
THE DREAM THAT STAYED WITH YOU WHEN YOU WOKE UP, 2022
embroidery, paint and collage on digital photography printed on canvas
4 parts; 38 7/8 x 78 inches (98,7 x 198,1 cm)
40 5/8 x 80 1/4 inches (103,2 x 203,8 cm) frame
SW 22014
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia

Joana Choumali
THE DREAM THAT STAYED WITH YOU WHEN YOU WOKE UP, 2022
embroidery, paint and collage on digital photography printed on canvas
4 parts; 38 7/8 x 78 inches (98,7 x 198,1 cm)
40 5/8 x 80 1/4 inches (103,2 x 203,8 cm) frame
SW 22014
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Georgia

Group of men wearing white clothing and gold crowns sitting on a dock, with gold leaves flowing above their heads set against a sunrise.

Joana Choumali
WE ARE STILL NOW, 2022
mixed media
4 parts; 38 1/2 x 78 inches (97,8 x 198,1 cm)
40 3/8 x 80 inches (102,6 x 203,2 cm) frame
SW 22013
Private Collection

Four children in white clothes standing on beach, looking into the sunrise over the water. Three holding hands and the third with back towards viewer.

Joana Choumali
WHEN THE LIGHT WHISPERS TO US, 2022
mixed media
triptych; 38 3/4 x 59 inches (98,4 x 149,9 cm)
40 5/8 x 60 7/8 inches (103,2 x 154,6 cm) frame
SW 22012
Private Collection

Women in pink walking past a house, with embroidered white rays emanating from her to the edges of the composition.

Joana Choumali
Untitled (Ça Va Aller), 2019
mixed media
9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches (24 x 24 cm)
16 1/4 x 16 1/4 inches (41,3 x 41,3 cm) frame
SW 21131
Private Collection

A man and woman talking with red embroidery connecting their faces, next to an off-white house against a rust-colored embroidered backdrop.

Joana Choumali
Untitled (Ça Va Aller), 2019
mixed media
9 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches (24 x 24 cm)
16 1/4 x 16 1/4 inches (41,3 x 41,3 cm) frame
SW 21127
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York