Yann Arthus-Bertrand presents until November 23 an exhibition on the crystalline formations of Lake Magadi in Kenya in the Rift Valley Province.
“There are magical places on our planet and Lake Magadi is one of them. Located 120 kilometers south-west of Nairobi, it is from the sky that it offers its most beautiful face. Yann has been there five times obsessed by his fascination for this place.Time and time again, he has criss-crossed from above this ever-changing lake, and brought back images of a surprising, bewitching world.
Born of a tear in the earth’s crust that occurred about 30 million years ago, the Great Rift Fracture extends over nearly 7,000 km in eastern Africa. Bordered by high volcanic plateaus, this vast rift valley, a succession of depressions (rift valleys) stretching from the Red Sea to Mozambique, is home to a string of large lakes (Turkana, Kivu, Tanganyika, Malawi…) and smaller ones like Lake Magadi, the southernmost in Kenya.
Fed by rainwater which washes away the neighboring volcanic slopes and carries away the mineral salts, but especially by saline hot springs, this lake contains water with a high salt content. In places, its surface is marbled with licks, crystallized saline deposits mixed with brackish water. Although inhospitable, it is not free from life: only one endemic fish species lives there in alkaline waters (pH 10) whose temperature exceeds 40°C. Millions of lesser flamingos (Phoenicopterus minor) come to feed on the proliferating micro-algae, shrimp and other crustaceans.
Yann Arthus-Bertrand : Obsession !
September 8 – November 23, 2022
Espace Frans Krajcberg
Centre d’Art Contemporain, Art et Nature
Chemin du Montparnasse,
21 avenue du Maine 75015 Paris, France
www.espacekrajcberg.fr
@espace_krajcberg
