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Africa Footprints

Print
1986 (printed)
Artist/Maker

Richard Long (born 1945), usually categorized as a sculptor, has turned the act of walking itself into a form of sculpture. One of his first works was A Line Made by Walking (England 1967), a visible track in the grass made by walking back and forth across a field. Since then Long has walked in many countries and represented the experience in the form of photographs, annotated maps and lists of sights, sounds and sensations. This print, in which the shape of the African continent is marked out by the artist's muddy footprints, was produced and published for a charity appeal to raise funds to alleviate famine in Africa.

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view Mapping the imagination Maps are simplified schematic diagrams that employ a universal visual language through which we codify and comprehend our world. We all use maps in our daily lives as sources of information about places, routes, networks, and boundaries. They offer us the means of describing and understand...

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleAfrica Footprints
Materials and techniques
Collotype in brown ink on paper
Brief description
'Africa Footprints' by Richard Long, collotype of mud prints from the artist's feet, printed in brown, on paper; 1986.
Physical description
Map of Africa in brown, formed from the artist's footprints
Dimensions
  • Sheet height: 100.9cm
  • Sheet width: 71.5cm
Style
Production typeLimited edition
Copy number
68/75
Marks and inscriptions
  • Richard Long (Signature; pencil)
  • 68/75
Gallery label
This print was made for a famine charity appeal. It reproduces the artist's muddy footprints marking out a map of Africa. It alludes to Long's own walks, but it also suggests the journeys undertaken by poverty-stricken people walking long distances in search of food aid.(2007)
Credit line
© Richard Long
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
Richard Long (born 1945), usually categorized as a sculptor, has turned the act of walking itself into a form of sculpture. One of his first works was A Line Made by Walking (England 1967), a visible track in the grass made by walking back and forth across a field. Since then Long has walked in many countries and represented the experience in the form of photographs, annotated maps and lists of sights, sounds and sensations. This print, in which the shape of the African continent is marked out by the artist's muddy footprints, was produced and published for a charity appeal to raise funds to alleviate famine in Africa.
Bibliographic reference
Timmers, Margaret (Ed). Impressions of the Twentieth Century: Fine Art Prints from the V&A's Collection. London, V&A Publications, 2001.
Collection
Accession number
E.340-1986

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Record createdDecember 18, 2002
Record URL
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