In this poignant exhibition, Ethiopian-American photographer Yusuf Ahmed delves into the intricate dance between memory and erasure, asking: What endures, and what fades? Inviting friends and acquaintances with immigrant identities to respond to a deceptively simple prompt—What is the object you’ve held onto the longest?—Ahmed uncovers objects imbued with meaning: scissors, a childhood diary, a delicate vase, a Russian doll. These seemingly ordinary items become powerful vessels, safeguarding stories of ancestors, distant homelands, and fractured yet enduring identities.
For Black, brown, and queer individuals shaped by migration and diaspora, these objects transcend nostalgia. They are sites of tension, where the weight of history meets the possibilities of the future—a space for reimagining identity, rewriting narratives, and dreaming of what could be. Through fifteen intimate photographic stories that stretch from Hanoi to Maputo, Addis Ababa to New York, Ahmed maps the deeply personal terrain of home, memory, and belonging.
From adoption to ancestry, from coming out to building chosen family, Ahmed’s lens illuminates the fragile, vital ways we tether ourselves to identities that might feel distant, yet persist. Each photograph becomes an archive, an invitation to reconsider not just where we come from, but how we choose to carry it forward.
What endures, and what fades?
Between Nostalgia & Dreams
About the Artist
Yusuf Ahmed is an Ethiopian-American documentary filmmaker, photographer, and communications strategist based in New York City. Yusuf’s work in documentary portraiture and film examines contemporary conditions of globalization and how it impacts the construction of memory, identity, and notions of belonging. Yusuf received his B.A in international relations and communications from Denison University. He has directed, produced, and documented projects across Africa and the Middle East tackling diverse issues including migration, heritage conservation, agriculture, and disease elimination. He recently produced the short film "The Fly Collectors" in Senegal and is currently directing and producing his first feature film "Love Belt."
Yusuf Ahmed – A and the Massawa Grad Portrait, 2023. Photograph: Courtesy of the artist.
Media Contacts
The Africa Center
press@theafricacenter.org
Ayofemi Kirby
ayofemi@itseleventhirtysix.com