african arenas 1999 to 2009 by Thomas Hoeffgen
It’s a long time and a long way from lush green lawns of aristocratic English football in the 19th century to the rough, dusty arenas of suburban African soccer at the eve of the 21st. Two worlds colliding through time and space – and yet the fascination is the same. The African Arenas project seeks to portray today’s Africa through the lens of some of its urban, suburban, and middle-of-the-desert soccer fields, moving all the way between two sticks rammed into a mud field to the high-rising light shafts of major league stadiums. It combines aesthetic precision with a meditation on the variety of places and spaces in which, as well as the variety of people by whom, soccer is being played. It’s a vibrant portrait of a whole continent’s love of soccer and a tribute to its ability to nurture some of the world’s finest players. Thomas Hoeffgen’s pictures aim not only to show the soccer fields and their occupants, but also the-sometimes pretty surprising-contexts in which they are located. Just outside a township or just underneath a highway bridge, the nature of the game allows more or less informal arenas to arise virtually at any street corner… For a few talented youngsters, social mobility can come about thanks to the round rolling ball-and they can shift suddenly from bare feet to Adidas shoes. This epic portrait of African soccer is based on a soccer story Hoeffgen shot in Nigeria in 1999. In the final version, the emphasis will be on soccer nations: East Congo, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Namibia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Egypt, South Africa, Cameroon, Rwanda and Angola; with a focus on players, training environments and landscapes.
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